


Code Red

by just_a_pinwheel



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: All of Seventeen are working at the police station, Alpha Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Police, Anal Plug, Anal Sex, Angst, Dirty Talk, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Implied Mpreg, Knotting, Lingerie, M/M, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Murder, Omega Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Omega Verse, Or something like this, Oral Sex, Police Officer Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi, Police Officer Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Rimming, Rough Sex, Slight Panic Attack, Slow Burn, Smut, Soonhoon - Freeform, Swearing, Violence, identity crisis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2020-09-24 15:07:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 43
Words: 239,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20360539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_a_pinwheel/pseuds/just_a_pinwheel
Summary: Lee Jihoon is a hard working and hot-headed police officer, but also a good friend. He is living the life of a beta even though he is an omega. He bumps heads with profiler Kwon Soonyoung who is despite being a good natured alpha a loner and workaholic.Jihoon and Soonyoung have to learn how to work together despite bad blood between them and struggle along the way to cope with who they really are. Maybe they can find somewhere in between solving murder cases also their true selves, friendship and even love.





	1. Officer, we have a problem

“Lee! Officer Lee Jihoon! Stop right now! This is an order!” Said officer kept on running after a tall guy with a mask covering his face. He ran as if his life depended on it, panting and pushing himself to the limit. When rounding a corner, the officer caught up with the guy at last. He kicked him hard into his back and the guy began to falter.

The masked man turned around pulling a gun out, but before he could even release the security of the gun, Jihoon punched him in the gut - hard. The gun fell to the floor while both men started throwing punches at each other. The masked guy being much taller than Jihoon gave him an advantage, but Jihoon wasn’t one to back down easily.

One trained kick onto the knees and the tall guy was falling over. Jihoon was on the guy at lighting speed, pulling his arms against his back and putting handcuffs on him.

Another guy was arriving at the scene panting hardly, holding a hand to his side. “I told you to stop Jihoon! He’s dangerous and has a gun. You can’t just run off and do whatever you want. I’m your team leader. If I say it’s too dangerous, then it’s too dangerous!!” 

Jihoon turned around and looked at his boss. “But I got him, team leader Park.” He had a nonchalant look on his face as if he didn’t even know what his boss was talking about.

The older sighed loudly and leaned down to help Jihoon get the guy up from the street without him breaking away. 

“You are under arrest for the murder of your wife. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

Two police cars arrived at the scene that very moment and four officers rushed forward to help them. When the murder suspect was safely put into a police car, team leader Park looked again at Jihoon, who just blankly stared at him. “We’ll talk about this back at the police station, do you understand?”

“Yes sir.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Team leader Park Dohyoen was fuming while walking up and down in his office. The four men in front of him were not moving at all while silently waiting for his outburst.

“You know, what you’ve all done wrong, right? Jihoon you run off AGAIN and the rest of you let him do what he want AGAIN. Do you have anything to say about this?”

Jihoon, looked like he wanted to say something, but just kept his mouth shut. Another one took a step forward instead. “We are sorry boss. You know it’s difficult to hold Jihoon back. Also he was right, AGAIN. We all know he’s the most capable one here.” Jeon Wonwoo stared at his boss, who just let out a dramatic sigh.

“Yes, I know that Jihoon is a great officer, but he can’t do things like that alone all the time. He’ll get himself killed one day.” A light chuckle was coming from one of the other men in the room. “I seriously doubt that team leader. Jihoon can take it up with everyone.”

“Don’t even tell him stuff like that, Seokmin. He’ll just get more reckless. Seriously, you guys… what should I do with you?” Park Dohyeon sat down in his chair, having a serious expression on his face.

“Boss is something wrong?” Vernon, the youngest of the team asked his boss blankly. He wasn’t really one to show many emotions.

“Actually, I have something to tell you. I’ll quit being your team leader. I found a job at the National Intelligence Service. It’s a quiet job, where I don’t have to chase after murderers all the time and will have time for my family. I’ll only be here for another week. I wanted to tell you much earlier, but I never found the right time to do it.”

The four guys of the crime investigation unit looked surprised at each other. They hadn’t expected such news.

“Congratulations team leader. But, what will become of us if you are gone?” Wonwoo asked his boss. Before the other could even answer, Jihoon already spoke up. “Did they already hire a new team leader?”

Dohyeon didn’t look surprised at Jihoon's question. He had probably actually expected Jihoon to ask that. “From what I’ve heard, they are still reviewing candidates. They have to decide in the next two or three days I guess.” Jihoon had a determined look on his face, already turning around to leave the office.

“Officer Lee!” His team leader shouted at him. “You stop right now. I know you want to talk to the deputy chief immediately, but do you really think it’s already your time to lead the team? You are a good guy, but reckless in your job. You have to take care of your unit as the team leader.”

Jihoon was in thoughts for a while before answering. “I think that I’m fully capable to lead this team. I’m for three years part of this team already. I know how to handle the cases and I watched you lead the team. I can do it. I know I can.” The team leader just sighted once again at Jihoon's words.

“Do what you have to do officer Lee. I know you’ll find the right path for you.” At these words Jihoon stormed out of the office without looking back again. He needed to talk about his new job as a team leader.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I heard you talked to the deputy chief?” Jihoon let himself fall onto a chair in front of his friend Seungcheol's desk. Seungcheol was the team leader of the organized crime investigation unit. His team was highly capable and professional. Choi Seungcheol being a great team leader might be one of the key factors in the efficiency of his team.

He was not surprisingly an Alpha. One who never was aggressive outside of his job. But while investigating, he was a really tough guy. No one could mess with him and much less escape him. “Does your mate has nothing else to do than bring you immediately the newest gossip?” Seungcheol let out a friendly laugh.

“You know how Hannie is. It’s exciting for him if something new is happening in the police station. It’s his greatest joy as secretary of the deputy chief.” Jihoon laughed back at his friend. Yes, he knew how Jeonghan was and that was also why he was such a great person.

Seungcheol and Jihoon were already working in this police station when Jeonghan started working as secretary here 4 years ago. Jihoon knew Seungcheol already from university and he had been quite the player, not wanting to mate with anyone. But the moment he saw Jeonghan, the alpha was totally head over heels for the omega. Sad for Seungcheol that Jeonghan liked playing hard to get. So he had to court him for a very long time. He came crying to Jihoon many evenings with some bags of alcohol in the hand saying that his life was over if Jeonghan didn’t want him.

At that time it was quite a serious matter, but thinking now back on it made Jihoon laugh. Big, bad alpha officer Choi Seungcheol crying over an omega day and night. After a couple of months, Jeonghan agreed to go on a date with the alpha and they were inseparable since then.

Jihoon wasn’t sure if it would work out with the pair at the beginning because working at the same place is never a good thing for a relationship, but they managed everything really well. They were a match made in heaven. 

They mated half a year after going on their first date and were still as much in love as in the beginning. They were a great couple and great friends to Jihoon. He wouldn’t want to miss them in his life.

“So what did the deputy chief say? You told him that you wanted to become the team leader, right?” Jihoon leaned forward and laid his head onto the table. He just grumbled slightly and then kept quiet for a while.

“He said that they are reviewing candidates and they’ll also consider me.” Seungcheol looked confused at his friend. “But isn’t that good news?”

“No. Good news would be if I already got the job, Cheol. This is my team. I deserve this. I won’t accept a new team leader.” Seungcheol hummed lowly at Jihoon's words. “I know you won’t like what I’ll say now, but you are still quite young, Ji. You are only 28 years old and your career in the police is still long.”

“Yes, I hate you for saying that. You also became a team leader with 28. Am I being discriminated here?” Seungcheol just rolled his eyes at his friend who sat up again and gave him a fake annoyed look.

“As if I would ever dare to discriminate you. You are more badass than I’ll ever be. I can’t even think of you as an omega. I never saw you acting like one or smelling like one or looking like one. Your aggressive pills make you more beta than any beta in the whole world.”

Jihoon couldn’t help but smile at Seungcheol's words. This was exactly what he wanted. That people would not see him as the omega he actually was.

When Jihoon presented very belatedly after his 16th birthday as an omega, it came as a big shock to him. He had the attitude of an alpha, but his body turned out to be the one of an omega. Small in height with a pretty face. He didn’t want to see it, but all signs were clearly there from the beginning on.

As the only child of a deputy chief in Busan, his only dream had ever been to become a police officer. When he presented as an omega, his father neither was surprised nor did he seem disappointed in him. The problem was Jihoon himself.

Becoming a police officer as an omega was not unheard of but certainly a difficult path. Still he wanted to walk this path until the end. So right after he presented, he asked his father to buy him the hardest suppressants for omegas available.

His family had been totally against it, telling him that it would change his whole nature completely. But Jihoon didn’t give up on it, If that was the price to pay then he would do it gladly. 

They went to a doctor who had to do a psychological test on him to see if the suppressants were really necessary in his case. But the doctor deemed him, in the end, fitting for the suppressants, so the pills became Jihoon's best friends.

Not one day since then went by where he didn’t take one of the shiny orange pills at mostly the same time of the day. If he would skip taking one for more than 48 hours, they would lose effect and Jihoon didn’t even know what would happen then. He took the blockers already since 12 years. For 12 years all of his omega senses had been completely blocked. His scent, his heats, his typical omega behavior – Jihoon never experienced any of it and he also didn’t want to experience it. He was glad that he could live as a beta without any scent and any special needs. The only thing he wanted is to do his job well. And that was certainly a lot easier as beta.

Even though Jihoon took the blockers regularly and no stranger could tell that he was an omega, everyone in the police department knew of his true gender. He also didn’t make a big deal out of it. He was an omega, who was living as a beta. Simple as that.

“So you think you’ll get the job, Ji?” Jihoon was torn from his thoughts by Seungcheol's question. “Of course. I’m the best for the job because I know the team best.”

“Let’s hope it will work out then. How about we finish work and have some drinks with the whole crew?” Jihoon was considering Seungcheol's question. They hadn’t been out for drinks for a while and he really missed that. But he was also tired from a long day at work. He would never admit it, but running after murderers and risking your life was actually kind of exhausting at times.

“Next time. I’m too tired today. The weekend would be good I think. Saturday? I’ll tell my team, you tell yours and we can all hang out then. Deal?” Jihoon gave Seungcheol a tired smile and got up from the chair.

“Deal! I’m also bringing Hannie of course. And we also should tell Minghao. You’ll be at the training center at one point this week? Your case is closed now, so you’ll probably have the time.” Seungcheol also got up and followed Jihoon to the door.

“Yes for sure. I didn’t really have the time to train lately, so I have some catching up to do. I will tell Minghao then.” Seungcheol patted Jihoon on the back and grinned at his friend.

“Go home, Ji. You look like shit.” Jihoon rolled his eyes at the comment. “I still look better than you. Bye, hyung.” He waved slightly at Seungcheol and went to his desk in the open-plan office. He grabbed his jacket, keys, and purse and stopped for a moment to look at his team, who was still hanging around while discussing the case.

“You should all go home, it was a long day.” Seokmin cheered happily, while Wonwoo and Vernon quietly started packing up their stuff.

Jihoon slowly made his way to his car and drove off to his home. His apartment was in a big apartment complex. When he started working at the police station, Seungcheol recommended him to rent an apartment there because it’s close to work. Every apartment was perfectly isolated, so alphas, betas and omegas could live there together without a problem. No scents could penetrate the walls.

Seungcheol was already living there when Jihoon moved in and he also never moved out there – but Jeonghan moved in with him at one point. It was great for Jihoon, because always when he felt alone or troubled, he could go over to their apartment and hang out there. They not even once made Jihoon feel unwelcome at their place. He was v thankful for that.

In general he was very thankful how life turned out for him. Not only did he do well at work, but his private life was also very stable. He was close to his whole team, especially to Wonwoo, with whom he already studied together at Korean National Police University. He also got along well with Seongcheols team, which consisted of Joshua, Jun, Mingyu and Chan.

When Jihoon was a child, he would have never dreamed of having that many good friends. He always had been very quiet and closed off. He had been quite the loner his whole school life, but Wonwoo and Seungcheol had been his rescue at university. They had been inseparable for all the years and that’s also how they ended up trying for the same police station. Or better said, Jihoon and Wonwoo followed the older one a year later to his police station. It had been great that everything had worked out that well.

That they also would find so many other good friends at the police station wasn’t something that Jihoon expected, but it certainly wasn’t unwelcome. Having good friends made life a lot more enjoyable, especially when you are a long term single.

It’s not like Jihoon didn’t try to have relationships, but it just never worked out. He knew that the suppressants were the problem. An omega living as a beta, wasn’t something people could cope with in a relationship. Alphas wouldn’t even bother dealing with him, so he always went for betas. But even that was problematic. At one point they found out that he was an omega and would start discussing with him, why he was taking the suppressants. It always ended in a breakup.

But Jihoon wasn’t unhappy because of that. He had his friends and his work and that was all he needed.

Jihoon parked the car at the apartment complex and got off. He was really tired and just wanted to go to sleep immediately. Skipping one meal shouldn’t be too bad, he pondered.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The rest of the week went by without any big incidents. There hadn’t been a new case, so Jihoon and his team were busy with writing the report for the last case. Sometimes it felt like they wrote half of the time only reports. It was quite bothersome, but in the end, it had to be done.

It was Friday, which meant that the week was almost over. Jihoon felt a bit anxious because he still hadn’t got any feedback for his application as the team leader. He’d gone to the deputy chief two days ago and asked him about the result, but the chief told him to be patient.

Jihoon looked at the clock and saw that it was almost time to call it a day. It would be his first weekend off in some weeks and he couldn’t hide his giddiness about it. Especially because the whole crew had time for the get-together tomorrow. Jihoon really looked forward to it. Their get together would probably make him forget all his worries in no time.

Just when he wanted to get up to call it a day, he heard the deep voice of the deputy chief.

“Listen up everyone, I would like to introduce you to the new team leader of the crime investigation unit.” Jihoon turned his head around looking with wide eyes at the two persons standing behind him. 

This was not how Jihoon had planned things to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! So this is my second project and it will be unsurprisingly a long one again. Around 40 chapters or more. It will be slow burn and a bit angsty and complicated at times. Even though it’s an ABO story, I want this to be kind of real. If this even makes any sense. But hopefully it will be also still fun :D
> 
> I added the ABO aspect because I wanted to write a story that really focuses on conflicts within yourself and figuring out who you really are. Of course you can also do that without ABO, but it seemed fun to me so I wanted to try it out :D In the end this story just might be one cliché thing mixed together with another cliché thing hahaha
> 
> Btw this story is not from Jihoons perspective. The next chapter will be from Soonyoungs perspective and then it will switch around. This will be a big universe where I hopefully can include telling a bit about the side pairings, so I need to actually switch perspectives from time to time. It hopefully won’t turn out too messy.
> 
> Also the rating for the story might be a bit too high for quite a while. But better make it a high rating from the start than changing it later.
> 
> So for now that Mask Kingdom is still running, I’ll update this once a week on Friday. Afterwards probably twice a week? Still not sure. I also have another story I have to post somewhere in between…
> 
> I’m sorry for all mistakes I make. I’m only proofreading it myself and English is not my mother tongue. Also I really researched the Korean police system, but it still might be inaccurate at times…
> 
> Thank you for taking the time to read <3 I hope this wasn’t too boring to read. Introduction chapters are never all that exciting. See you soon!


	2. A profiler without profile

“We should have seen the hint earlier! We are getting praised for something that could have ended with one murder less, how is that satisfying?” “Why are you even the one complaining? If it hadn’t been for Soonyoung, the killer would be still on the run!” ”Yes, but…”

Soonyoung listened to his two colleagues arguing while already starting to write the report. The faster he got it done, the earlier they could take upon another case. This case indeed didn’t end well. Three people had lost their lives, they should have been faster.

“Officers!” Soonyoung turned around, seeing their chief. “Well done, well done. Especially officer Kwon. I heard that you figured out who the killer is.” 

Soonyoung looked ahead without any real emotion, just nodding slightly. “Fantastic. The press is celebrating the catch of the murderer!”

Soonyoung went back to writing his report, not really hung up on the idea that the media was actually celebrating there catch. It’s just like his colleagues said, how can they be happy about a case that could have ended with one more person alive? 

“Officer Kwon, I’ll expect you tomorrow in my office. For now you should all call it a day and relax a bit.” Soonyoung's colleagues jumped up from their seats, immediately starting to pack their things together.

“Yo, Soonyoung. Go drinking with us?” Soonyoung looked up from his papers, cocking his head slightly to the side. 

“I want to write the report, but have fun drinking! Drink one also for me!” The other officer groaned at Soonyoung's words. 

“We have been working for almost three years together and you never went drinking with us. It’s a shame.” His second colleague just shoved the man ahead whispering that he should leave Soonyoung alone.

Soonyoung got up from his seat shortly to bow slightly and went back to work. He knew that his colleagues thought he was strange for never hanging out with them, but he plainly didn’t have the time to play around. He had a goal set and he needed to reach that. After that, he could play as much as he wanted.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Soonyoung opened the door to his apartment and turned the light on. Nothing but silence greeted him. When he was younger, the constant silence made him feel unnerved. But now the silence was comforting. It was proof that he was working hard. He wasn’t wasting his time on a lover or friends. Only his work was waiting in silence for him.

Soonyoung put his coat onto the rack and went over to his work desk. He put his bag on top and pulled some files out. He sighed once and started reading through them. After 10 minutes of reading his phone suddenly started to ring. Not many people even had his phone number, so he knew it would be important. When he looked at the lock screen, he saw that it was actually his father calling. He hesitated for a moment picking up the call but did so nevertheless. 

“Hello, father.”

“I wanted to check how things are going. I read that your team caught the murderer and the press was especially praising you.” Soonyoung knew already where this call was leading to and he didn’t like it. 

“Yes, but we weren’t fast enough. If we would have been faster, we could have saved one more person.” Soonyoung heard how his father chuckled slightly. 

“You can’t save everyone. You did good catching figuring out who the murderer is and then catching him that fast.” Soonyoung ignored what his father said and just didn’t answer him. Discussing this with his father would be pointless.

“So did you hear any feedback about your application to the National Intelligence Service?” There it was. He knew that this could be the only reason that his father would actually call him. Congratulating him for a well-done case? What a joke. 

“No, I haven’t.” Soonyoung's father cleared his throat. “Should I ask the one who is in charge of the applications?”

Soonyoung fought down the need to get angry. Sometimes he also wanted to be like other alphas and just get angry and shout at his father. But he was well behaved or should he rather say well trained? He rarely allowed himself to get really angry. 

“No, thank you. They will tell me their decision when it’s time.”

“Soonyoung, how much longer will you need to get into the National Intelligence Service? How much longer do you expect me to keep on telling my colleagues that you are not good enough for the National Intelligence Service?” Soonyoung slowly breathed in and out. He could do this, he would shout at him. His father had said already much more hurtful things. This was nothing.

“I’ll get back to you, when I heard something. Have a good night, father.” With that Soonyoung cut the line. He got up from his chair and walked a bit around his room. He wanted to scream and throw things at the wall, but he kept it all in. What use would it even be? No one would see his agony and no one even cared.

Soonyoung's father was in a high position at the National Intelligence Services. He came from a poor family and somehow still made it with a scholarship into Police University. He worked for many years hard and earned himself the job at the National Intelligence Service because of outstanding accomplishments in his job.

Since Soonyoung was born it had been his obligation to take after his father. There was a time when he was younger, where he really wanted to do something else later. The day his father heard about that, he had been totally out of his mind screaming for almost an hour at Soonyoung. So he gave up on his own dreams and started dreaming about becoming a police officer. It was a highly respectable and exciting job, so it wasn’t too difficult to chase after that dream.

At least that’s what he’d thought all his school life. Studying had always come easy to him, so his grades were always one of the bests at school without even studying hard. He hung out a lot with friends, was loud and just had a fun life. That all completely changed when he started attending the Korean National Police University. His father suddenly got a lot stricter, constantly telling Soonyoung that he should concentrate on his studies and not hang out with his friends all the time.

At one point he just right out forbade Soonyoung to bring people home. Soonyoung felt frustrated for a long time. He was a naturally outgoing type and liked being together with people. He liked to joke around and have fun in general, but his father didn’t care. He only cared about Soonyoung being in the top spot at university. He wouldn’t accept anything less than that.

There were many talented and bright students at university, so Soonyoung constantly had to work hard. And at one point, being alone wasn’t even that hard anymore. He didn’t even have the time to worry about friends, because no one wanted to hang out with someone who always prioritized his studies over his friends.

He graduated university with distinction as the best student of the year and he thought things would get easier then. He started off his rookie year at a police station in Seoul and was finally having some fun again. He dated some omegas, made some friends… but after his rookie year was over, his father became strict again with him. He shouldn’t play around but try to get into the National Intelligence Service as soon as possible, he told him. If Soonyoung didn’t manage to do that fast, then how could he even look at his colleagues anymore without being ashamed? 

So, Soonyoung went back to solitary. He worked his ass off for two more years and made it into a crime analysis team and became a profiler. As good profiler, you had a good chance to get into the National Intelligence Service.

Soonyoung had been constantly working day and night for the crime analysis team. Under the pressure of his father, he sent out three weeks ago an application to the National Intelligence Service. He still hadn’t heard anything from them and he was also sure that he wouldn’t get positive feedback. Even though he became a great profiler in the last years, he was still far from being experienced enough. He knew that and his father probably knew it too.

Soonyoung sat back down on his chair and took the file that he had read before into his hand.

“What sense does this all even make?”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Soonyoung stood in front of the door of the deputy chief. He couldn’t shake off the bad feeling he had. There was no reason for him to come here, so why did the chief actually call him? He knocked two times sharp on the door and opened it after he got called inside.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” The deputy chief was a great man. Clever, a good character, but still a great leader. Soonyoung liked him. 

“Yes, yes, sit down.” Soonyoung sat down on the chair in front of the desk feeling a still a bit anxious. 

“I called you here because I heard that you‘ve sent an application to the National Intelligence Service.” Soonyoung should have known they would contact the chief. This was going to get messy.

“Yes, I did.” The chief hummed lowly looking at Soonyoung. 

“You know, it’s still too early for you to join the National Intelligence Service, right?” Soonyoung nodded shortly. He didn’t even feel like explaining himself here. 

“I know your father, he’s a great man, but also not easy. Don’t let him pressure you too much.” Soonyoung wanted to roll his eyes but refrained from doing so. 

“But I can agree on the fact that you can take upon a new challenge now. There is nothing left for you to learn here. But there is something else you still need to learn.” Soonyoung looked confused at the chief. He didn’t know what the other was talking about. 

“Teamwork. I can see how passionately you are doing your work, but you are never really working together with the other officers. You really need to learn how to work in a team and also lead a team for your later career. This is the next step for you to get into the National Intelligence Service.”

Soonyoung still had a completely straight face. The tumult going on inside of him didn’t show at all. Teamwork really was the one thing he always tried to avoid. Being so long alone makes you believe that it’s better to work alone. He couldn’t just change that so easily.

“There is an open position at another police station in Seoul where they are in the need of a new leader for the crime investigation unit there. The team leader who just quit got into the National Intelligence Service, so you see that it’s a really good job for you. I sent them your profile and they already approved of you. You can start there on Monday.” His father wouldn’t like this. Hell, not even he liked this. Team leader? It seemed like an impossible task to Soonyoung. But if this is what it takes to get into the National Intelligence Service then he would do it. He could do it.

“Thank you, sir.” Soonyoung bowed deeply. 

“I already spoke with the deputy chief and he would like to see you today as soon as possible. Can you go there immediately? This is the address.” Soonyoung looked at the paper the deputy chief handed him. The address was on the other side of Seoul. He would have to search for a new apartment. A pity, because he liked his current one.

“I’ll take my leave then and go to the other police station.” The chief smiled at Soonyoung who still had a stoic impression on his face. 

“Good luck. I hope you’ll find what you are still missing.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Soonyoung felt restless when he arrived at his new deputy chiefs office. Seo Hosung was a well-respected and well-known deputy chief in Seoul. He was quite curious why he was chosen for this job, there must have been many officers who actually applied for this job themselves.

Even more restless made him though that he would probably need to meet his team soon. This time as a team leader. Soonyoung really wasn’t sure how he should handle it. He kept on trying to persuade himself that it would work out somehow and that he would find the answers along the way, but deep down he wasn’t sure that he really could handle being the leader of a team.

Soonyoung knocked sharply twice at the door like he always did and waited for the deputy chief to answer him. When Soonyoung opened the door, he saw a stern-looking middle-aged man sitting at a desk. He only got up slowly and motioned Soonyoung to sit down. 

“Good to see you officer Kwon, I’ve only heard good things about you.” Soonyoung bowed deeply before sitting down.

“I can only give that compliment back. Thank you for giving me this chance.” The deputy chief had a knowing little smile on his face.

“Are you really thankful for this chance or is it just a bother? I heard that you actually applied for the National Intelligence Service.” Soonyoung stared ahead for a while, busily thinking how to answer that question without embarrassing himself. 

“Of course it is not a bother. I applied for the National Intelligence Service, but I know that I’m still young and have many short-comings. I am really glad to get the chance to prove myself as a team leader now. It will be an insightful experience.” _Lies. Lies. Lies._ Hopefully, the deputy chief wouldn’t detect them.

“That’s reassuring to hear. You are well qualified for this job, because of your excellent work as a profiler in the last years. I also believe being a team leader will be an important experience on your way to the top. And with your ambition, I expect nothing else than aiming for the top from you.” Soonyoung bowed slightly in his seat again. 

“I’ll try my best to be not a disappointment.” The deputy chief now laughed at Soonyoung, obviously amused at how serious the officer was.

“You’ll be doing great for sure.” The deputy chief took some files from his desk and put them in front of Soonyoung. “These are the files of the four officers in your team. You should study them well. It’s important that you know and understand everything about them.” Soonyoung grabbed one of the files immediately, but the deputy chief stopped him.

“I have to tell you something before you go through these files. Actually this team is not an easy one. They are really efficient and also go along well, but there is one officer who always runs off on his own to solve the cases himself. It would be good if you could get him a bit under control somehow. Your predecessor never managed to do so. I’m sorry that this job won’t be an easy one.” 

Soonyoung suddenly got a bad feeling. The file felt heavy in his hand and he didn’t even want to open it anymore. The deputy chief was watching him expectantly though, so not opening the file wasn’t an option. 

Soonyoung opened the first file and saw the profile of an officer. And it wasn’t just the profile of any officer, but the profile of one he knew very well. Suddenly this new job had gotten from challenging to almost impossible in mere seconds. 

“Now I understand what you meant when you said that the job is not easy.” The deputy chief looked slightly surprised at Soonyoung. 

“You know officer Lee?” Yes he knew Lee Jihoon. And he had really hoped that he would never meet him again. Though, that was kind of difficult in their field of work.

“Yes, we were in the same year at university.” The deputy chief nodded at Soonyoung's explanation. 

“I should have known that. You are the same age right? That’s good then. If you know each other, it might be easier for him.” Soonyoung cleared his throat and looked in uneasiness at the deputy chief.

“I think you are mistaken. This will not make things easier at all. He hates me.” The deputy chief looked taken aback for a second, but suddenly started then laughing loudly. 

“He’ll hate you either way, I guess. Have a look at the other files and then I’ll introduce you to your team.” Soonyoung swallowed nervously. He hadn’t expected to meet his new team already today when he would only officially start working here on Monday.

Soonyoung looked through the other three files and saw two unknown faces and one more face he was quite familiar with. Of course Jihoon was still hanging out with Wonwoo. That was not surprising to him. At least Wonwoo was a lot easier to handle than Jihoon.

The deputy chief got up from his seat when Soonyoung had closed the last file. Soonyoung unwillingly followed the deputy chief outside. They went through the corridor and arrived in an open-plan office. Soonyoung easily spotted Wonwoo already from far away. The guy who was sitting in front of him, his back turned to Soonyoung, was unmistakably Lee Jihoon. You don’t see police officers with such a small stature that often. 

“Listen everyone, I like to introduce you to the new team leader of the crime investigation unit.” Soonyoung saw how Jihoon turned his head around looking with wide eyes at him. The shock didn’t last long and he angrily got up, his chair falling to the side in the process.

“What the hell is he doing here?” When Soonyoung heard that single question, he knew that the gates to hell had opened right in this moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So here is the second chapter. Not posting for one week feels like one year for me. I’m not used to update a story only once a week haha
> 
> This is like the second introduction chapter. While it’s easier to see what Jihoons character is like, I think it’s a bit more difficult with Soonyoung. You’ll only really see how he really is when the story progresses. Even for me it’s an interesting journey with his character ^^
> 
> Next chapter will slowly dive into their lives, but I it’s still a lot of world building. So please bear with me for a while.  
I will most probably only update this again on next Friday, because tomorrow I’ll upload the special chapter for Mask Kingdom and I’m planning to upload a oneshot (it’s three chapters actually, but I’ll upload them all at once) on Tuesday to get it out of the way. It’s all a lot of work, so I think I won’t be able to update before Friday again. But after next week I should be able to update more often again :D
> 
> Thank you for reading! I’m glad many are interested in this kind of storyline! Thank you for commenting an leaving kudos! See you around <3


	3. This is my police station

“What the hell is he doing here?” Jihoon couldn’t believe his eyes and neither could he believe what he just heard. He got angrily up from his chair and it fell with a loud thump down to the floor. 

“Did you just say _new team leader_?” He gritted out.

“Officer Lee, calm down this instant. I know you are not pleased by this outcome, but we reviewed all the candidates and officer Kwon was the best one for the position. He worked in the last years for a highly efficient profiler team. He was our first choice.” Jihoon just angrily looked back and forth between the two men. He was close to exploding any second.

“This is not about him being better qualified! This is just about him being an alpha and me being an omega! That’s why you didn’t want to give me the job!” Jihoon saw how Soonyoung slightly flinched at his words. He wasn’t sure if it was because the other one hadn’t known that he had also applied for the job or because of the talk about gender discrimination.

“Officer Lee, you are out of line. If you don’t want to get suspended, I advise you to calm down this instant. We didn’t decide this because of anyone’s gender and I would like it if you wouldn’t assume things like that again.” Jihoon stomped over to the two men and stopped right in front of Soonyoung.

“Long time no seen, Kwon. This must be so funny for you, right? Did you actually plan this? As if university already hadn’t been enough, now you also come to MY police station and taunt me here?” Soonyoung had a straight face while Jihoon threw all the angry words at him. It was unnerving to Jihoon. Why did he have to come back into his life? 

“Jihoon don’t be unfair. We graduated from university 5 years ago. Isn’t it time to let the past be just the past?” Jihoon looked over at Wonwoo who just took his glasses down while watching Jihoon in a calm manner. 

“Are you betraying me now too? How do I deserve all of this? I’m working my ass off just to get this pathetic excuse of an alpha as team leader!” Jihoon heard Soonyoung inhale sharply. He knew that it wasn’t clever to insult an alpha like this, but he just couldn’t help it right now. It would even feel good to him if the other would also explode right now.

“Officer Lee, you are dismissed for the day. It’s better if you leave right now. I expect you back on Monday morning at work and if I hear one more word like this, you’ll be suspended for however long it takes you to accept your new team leader.” Jihoon was clenching his jaw and his eyes were still blown wide because he was so very angry. He looked once more over to Soonyoung.

“I won’t accept you as my team leader. Never!!” Jihoon stormed angrily out of the door. This talk wasn’t finished yet, but for now he had to give up. What a very unlucky day.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Soonyoung looked after the angry Jihoon for a moment. He had expected the other to be not happy about his arrival, but he didn’t expect the situation to escalate that badly. He had quietly hoped that Jihoon wouldn’t be that angry anymore after all these years. That hope had been in vain.

But maybe this wasn’t even because of their personal problems, but more because Jihoon was disappointed that he didn’t get the position as team leader. It would have been nice of the deputy chief to actually tell him beforehand that Jihoon had also applied for this job. But it wasn’t possible to change the situation anymore, so Soonyoung just had to make the best out of it. He still wasn’t sure what the best actually was though.

He stepped closer to his team members and bowed slightly. “My name is Kwon Soonyoung, I’ll be your team leader starting on Monday. Even though the first meeting didn’t go very smoothly, I still hope we’ll be able to work together well.” The other three all got up from their chairs and also bowed slightly.

“I want to apologize for Jihoon's behavior. He didn’t mean it like that. He was just shocked that he didn’t get the job. He isn’t the same person who he was at university. Even if you probably can’t believe that right now…” Wonwoo gave him a small smile and it made Soonyoung actually feel a bit better. Wonwoo had always been a good guy, also back at university. If he wouldn’t have fallen out so badly with Jihoon, they all would have been great friends. But what’s the use of mourning things that happened a long time ago? 

“It’s okay. When I saw his file, I knew he would lash out at me. And that I got the job he wanted also probably didn’t make things better. But we can make it work somehow, I’m sure.” A lie once again. He wasn’t sure at all that they could make this work. Jihoon said that he would never accept him as the team leader and he sounded very serious while saying that. This whole job seemed to be doomed from the beginning on. But there was no way that he could step back from this position now. His pride wouldn’t allow it.

“That all sounds very good. Officer Kwon, you can take the files with you and we’ll see each other on Monday again. I’ll make sure that officer Lee will be behaving then.” Soonyoung bowed deeply and waited for the deputy chief to leave the office. 

“Soonyoung, long time no seen.” Soonyoung turned around and saw how Seungcheol slowly made his way over to him. Of course he knew Choi Sungcheol. Everyone in their university knew him at that time because he was at the top of his year. Really intelligent guy, but they didn’t interact that often. Probably because he was friends with Jihoon. They once worked on a project together, so they nevertheless had a kind of friendly relationship.

“Seungcheol-hyung long time no seen. Or should I call you something else now?” Seungcheol was laughing at the younger one. 

“No, hyung is fine. How have you been? I sometimes saw you in the news. You’ve become a really great profiler.” Soonyoung shook his head slightly. “I still have a long way to go.”

“It’s great to have you here. Your team is really awesome, you know? And Ji will also come around. His pride is just hurt right now. I mean even at university your feud was really ridiculous to begin with. I never understood why Jihoon kept that up all the years in university.” Soonyoung gave Seungcheol a tight smile and nodded slightly. He was right. Their feud had been ridiculous and he had never really understood how their relationship even had turned out that badly, when they had been something like friends at one point. But then again, having a rival like Jihoon had made him work even harder in university. It had been a good motivation all these years.

“I’ll talk to Jihoon on Monday. We can get over our past problems.” Seungcheol patted Soonyoung on the back. 

“Don’t worry! I’ll also scold him! Oh right, we have a big meet up tomorrow evening in a close-by restaurant. Do you also want to come? You could get to know everyone better. Also Seokmin and Vernon who are part of your team.” The two mentioned guys were waving to Soonyoung and Soonyoung waved in a friendly manner back.

“I’m sorry hyung, but I still have to pack my things at the old police station and I also need to find a new apartment, because my old one is really far away. There is a lot to do for me over the weekend.” Seungcheol nodded sympathetically. 

“Of course, I can understand that. Just join us the next time then. But give me your phone number, maybe I can help you with something.” Soonyoung wanted to decline, but he knew that it would be strange to do so. He hesitated for a moment before finally sending his information per airdrop to Seungcheol.

“It was nice meeting all of you. See you on Monday again.” Soonyoung bowed once more and walked out of the office. On the way to his car, he was busily thinking about how to avoid going to these meetups for a very, very long time. He didn’t have time for friends after all.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was Saturday and Jihoon and the others were at their usual restaurant ordering food and drinks. Jihoon had been sulking silently since they had arrived. When Jihoon's drink was placed in front of him, he downed it in one go. “Ji, don’t drink that fast. You aren’t even much of a drinker.” Jihoon just gave Seungcheol a dark look. 

“I don’t care. Maybe I’ll die of alcohol poisoning if I’m lucky.”

Jihoon heard Wonwoo sigh beside him. “Why are you still so angry with Soonyoung? You were the one being an ass to him at university. If someone has the right to be angry then it should be him.” Jihoon ignored Wonwoo and winked a waiter over and ordered another drink.

“Don’t pester my Jihoonie like this. He is still my baby.” Jihoon growled lowly at Jeonghan, but the omega just laughed it off. 

“I hate you all.” Jeonghan leaned over the table to pat Jihoon's head. “No, you are the one who loves us the most.” Jihoon swatted his hand away but didn’t deny what Jeonghan just said.

He really did love them all. He looked quietly around his group of friends. At the side of the table, Jun and Minghao were discussing agitatedly something. The police officer and the material arts trainer were both from China and pretty inseparable since Minghao started working in the training center of the police one year ago. Jihoon had always thought that they would end up dating fast, but they were both still denying that there was more than friendship between them. Either they were dumb or stubborn or liars. Jihoon wasn’t sure which one it really was. But they were both betas, so maybe they also just weren’t in such a hurry to start dating. Being a beta clearly had advantages. But in their case, it might also be a bit of a disadvantage. For alphas and omegas, it was almost impossible to hide their true feelings, but betas did just fine.

Next to Jihoon sat Wonwoo and Mingyu, the great power couple of the office. When Mingyu joined the police station one year after them, Jihoon would have never expected Wonwoo to fall for the too loud puppy. But love was strange and the two betas made an awesome team and were disgustingly in love. Jihoon sometimes felt like vomiting while seeing them interact. He never knew that Wonwoo was such a romantic until Mingyu came along. But Wonwoo was one of his best’s friends, so how could he not be happy for him? Sometimes he even couldn’t help smiling when Mingyu was doing a little victory dance when he scored a date with his boyfriend.

Jihoon looked to his other side where Seokmin and Joshua were sitting. Seokmin was just making a stupid joke and laughing loudly about it. These two were another mystery to him. Betas were just the most difficult ones to understand after all. Sometimes Jihoon thought he saw something more than friendship between them and then he thought that it was totally ridiculous to even think like that. There wasn’t anything really obvious going on between them like with Jun and Minghao, but sometimes he thought that these two might be a good fit. Just time could tell in the end.

He let his eyes wander over to the two youngest of their group, Vernon and Chan. Both alphas were watching some video on Chan's phone while Chan was obviously explaining Vernon something. They were both uncomplicated alphas. Vernon was quite the silent type and Chan was really cutesy and hyper for an alpha, but they were both very pleasant to be around with. Neither of them was mated yet, but with mid-twenty that was also quite normal.

Jihoon's gaze went back to Seungcheol and Jeonghan who sat in front of him while having big grins on their faces. “What?” He asked them irritatedly. 

“You were totally out of it for a moment. What were you thinking about?” Seungcheol asked him. “Nothing much. Just that we are a very strange bunch.”

Seungcheol and Jeonghan both laughed at him. “So what will you do now on Monday? It’s not like you can avoid the situation forever.” Jihoon took his glass and downed the rest of the drink, suddenly feeling annoyed again. 

“What even happened at university that you are still so angry with him, Jihoonie?” Jeonghan looked curiously at his friend, but Jihoon remained silent.

“Yes, explain him, _Jihoonie_. I’m really curious how you explain that situation to someone who didn’t go with us to university. I mean, not even I really understood what was going on.” Jihoon leaned onto the table because the alcohol was suddenly rushing into his head. Kwon Soonyoung. Everything had been so many years ago that the memories were a bit fuzzy in his head.

“We started university at the same time and at first I didn’t really know him. We didn’t have the same group of friends, so I never even talked to him.” 

Seungcheol suddenly interrupted Jihoon. “Your group of friends only consisted of Wonwoo at that time.” Jihoon looked annoyed, because of Seungcheol's comment but decided to ignore it.

“Then one day, Wonwoo and I ended up with Kwon in a group for a project. He was… okay I admit it, he was a great guy at that time. We got along well until that one day. It was the day we got all our test results and Kwon beat me in EVERY subject. I was so freaking annoyed already the whole day because of it. We met up in the evening and went drinking and do you know what happened? He shamelessly flirted with me! He had the nerve to flirt with me after beating me in every single subject when he knew how hard I studied to be the best!!” 

Jeonghan was looking strangely confused at Jihoon. “Do I understand that right… you were angry for YEARS because he flirted with you?” Jihoon yelled through the room another order for a drink and gave Jeonghan afterward a slightly annoyed look. 

“You don’t understand this right! Soonyoung is an alpha! Alphas are not interested in me. He knew that I was an omega who was taking the strong suppressants. No alpha is ever interested in an omega like me. He just wanted to make fun of me, because he got all the top marks in our year!”

“Wow, Lee Jihoon, I didn’t know you are this petty.” Jihoon glared at Jeonghan but the omega just looked unimpressed. “This all doesn’t even make sense. Get your act together and start behaving like a normal person on Monday when you meet him again.”

Jihoon was sulking at his friend’s words. They all weren’t there that evening and didn’t know what Kwon had exactly said to him. They all just didn’t really know. “I won’t flip again. But I also won’t make his life easy. It’s my police station and my team. I don’t give that up easily.”

“But Soonyoung is now also part of your team.” Jihoon shrugged Seungcheol off and laid his head on the table. Maybe he really would manage to get alcohol poisoning and then he could call in sick for some days.

Seeing Soonyoung again on Monday really didn’t make him look forward to work. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that he was behaving childishly, but at this point he still couldn’t admit that he was wrong. He had to hold on to his anger for a bit longer. Especially because Soonyoung had taken away HIS job. No, he wouldn’t forgive the other that easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! New chapter and again nothing spectacular happened. It will go on for a couple more chapters like this. But it can’t be really helped. There is a short introduction to most of the characters in this chapter, but even now I think it will be really difficult to go in depth with all of them. I’ll really try to give many characters here more space than in Mask Kingdom, but in the end it’s still a Soonhoon story and I can’t focus on 13 person evenly. 13 is just too many. But I would also feel bad if I left out some persons completely…
> 
> Yesterday I had a bit of a bad day, because I felt stupid for not being able to properly write without making mistakes. So I considered not updating for a while until I fixed that issue. But what I hate even more than making mistakes is actually missing my deadlines and not holding on to my promises. So you have to bear a bit longer with me posting not properly proofread stuff D:
> 
> I’ll update next on Saturday I think. It will be the first day where everyone is working together at the police station. I thiiink it could get a bit crazy.
> 
> Thank you for all the kudos and comments. It’s always making my day. And thank you for bearing with my mistakes. Oh and thank so much for sending me a lot of nice feedback for _Offbeat_. I actually was really insecure about that story and I’m glad that many of you liked it!! See you soon <3


	4. New colleagues

It was only a bit after 9 in the morning but Jihoon was already staring without a break at the clock. He should continue writing the report but anger was still slightly buzzing under his skin, making him unable to concentrate. He knew his new team leader could arrive any second and he wasn’t happy about it. Somehow he still wished the deputy chief had just made a stupid joke. That he would now come into the room to tell him that they actually have chosen him to be the team leader but it all was just wishful thinking.

Jihoon looked around the room and his eyes met Seungcheol’s, who sat down at a table waiting for the newcomer. Jeonghan was sitting there as well, talking and laughing with Joshua about something Jihoon couldn’t catch. Getting a new colleague was always a spectacle at the station - almost to the point of it becoming ridiculous.

Jihoon began tapping his foot subconsciously on the floor and continued for a couple of minutes. “Jihoon, could you please calm down a bit?” Wonwoo looked at him with worried eyes and Jihoon couldn’t help huffing slightly. 

“I am calm. I have never been calmer in my whole life.” Jihoon opened his notebook, so he could at least make the others believe he was working. 

“You’re a bad liar. I can see you being close to exploding and do you know what? That’s not you. You're not the same brat from years ago.” Jihoon snapped the notebook shut again at Wonwoo’s words. 

“Did you just call me a brat?”

Wonwoo chuckled slightly and pushed his glasses up his nose. “I know that you are deep down, aware that you are behaving like a brat.” Jihoon looked angrily at his amused friend. 

“Don’t get smart with me now! And I’m not behaving like a brat. I’m just angry I didn’t get the job. Why can’t I be angry about that?”

“There lies the problem. You are mixing your anger of not getting the job together with an unjustified anger towards Soonyoung.” Jihoon was gripping the desk tightly trying to stay calm somehow. “It’s not unjustified! You know what happened! It is NOT unjustified! It is…” Jihoon stopped talking when he heard footsteps and voices of several people arriving. Everyone hastily got up from their seats as they saw the deputy chief enter the room. 

The deputy chief came together with Kwon Soonyoung and a young guy Jihoon had never seen before, who probably was in his mid-twenties, with blonde hair and a bright smile. When the trio came closer to them, Vernon sitting beside him slightly flinched. He had never seen that reaction from Vernon before, but it could only mean one thing: The blonde guy was an omega.

“Good morning everyone. Like many of you know already, this is officer Kwon Soonyoung. He’ll lead the crime investigation unit from now on.” Soonyoung looked very collected, but Jihoon was sure he saw a bit of uneasiness in the other's eyes. It gave Jihoon a tiny bit of satisfaction. 

“And this here on my right side is Boo Seungkwan. He’s the new secretary and he’ll help Jeonghan.” There was a short scream of joy coming from the far end of the room as soon as the words left the deputy chief’s mouth.

“Oh my god, this is the best day of my life! Thank you deputy chief! I have requested for another secretary for years. I really can’t believe this is finally happening.” Jeonghan came forward and took Seungkwan's hands into his. 

“Hi, I’m Yoon Jeonghan. I’m the head of secretary here and if you do what I say, we’ll be best friends.” The younger just smiled brightly at him. 

“My name is Boo Seungkwan! I’ll do my best working here! Please take care of me.” 

“Deputy chief, I love him. Thank you. This is really the best day of my life.” The deputy chief laughed slightly at his secretary. 

“I don’t think you should say it that often, your mate already looks a bit annoyed.” Jihoon looked over and also saw the annoyed glint in Seungcheol’s eyes. It had to be an alpha thing. Normally Seungcheol wasn’t one to get annoyed easily.

“Jeonghan, you can show Seungkwan his desk and what he’ll be working with for now. Officer Kwon, you can put up your things in your office and then get to know your team. You don’t have a case right now, so it’s the perfect time to get to know each other.” Jihoon tried to keep a straight face the whole time while the deputy chief spoke. He had to act calm and collected to not earn himself yet another suspension. Jihoon had been suspended before and it wasn’t that pleasant.

Two years ago he had wrecked a police car to catch a murderer, which was in his opinion a very normal thing to do. However seeing that he didn’t manage to catch the murderer in the end, the car had become a write-off. His former team leader had been more than furious about having to write a lengthy report about the incident. That had been reason enough to suspend Jihoon for a full week. He didn’t know what to do with all the free time and his inner workaholic was literally screaming in despair during that week of suspension.

The deputy chief and officers from other teams got up and went back to their respective offices. Jeonghan took Seungkwan by the arm and lead him to their department all the while a chipper expression on his face. Jeonghan had been asking for a second secretary for such a long time he had almost given up on any hopes of a recruitment. His main argument was that it would lessen Jeonghan's continuously growing workload and in turn lessen his stress levels. Lately he had been under a lot of pressure because he couldn’t keep up with the workload anymore, things kept piling up no matter how hard he worked. It felt good to see that in the end, they hired a second secretary. 

Jihoon turned around to see Soonyoung staring at him. He snared slightly at the alpha, but Soonyoung didn’t seem impressed by the younger one’s behavior. 

“I’ll put my things up in the office and come back again in a while.” Jihoon wanted to tell him that it wasn’t necessary to come back ever but held it in because Seungcheol suddenly stood beside his chair.

His team nodded at Soonyoung's words while Jihoon turned to Seungcheol and gave him a questioning look. Seungcheol calmly replied “You looked like you wanted to say something you would have regretted.” Jihoon got up from his chair and started walking to the coffee machine. 

“Yes, I wanted to say something and no I wouldn’t have regretted it.”

“Don’t be an ass, Ji. Just give him a chance. You have to work together now.” Jihoon cleared his throat and ignored what Seungcheol just told him. 

“I’m glad Jeonghan will have someone who helps him from now on. It’s been painful to see how stressed out he’s been all this time.” Jihoon took his coffee and headed over to Seungcheol office, the other tagging along with a slight frown on his face.

“You don’t even know half of it, Ji. Hannie was close to having a mental break down. I don’t know how much longer he would have been able to handle that workload alone.”

Jihoon didn’t know for a moment if he should actually feel offended that Jeonghan didn’t tell him how bad things were, but came to the conclusion that everyone would probably behave that way. Seungcheol would naturally know how things were far better than Jihoon since the two were mated. Alpha-omega pairs can always sense the mood of the other, it’s basically impossible to hide any feelings from your partner once you’re mated. 

“So...the new secretary is an omega, right?” Jihoon asked Seungcheol, who looked a bit surprised. “How do you know? Can you suddenly smell him?”

Jihoon shook his head slightly. “No, of course not. I saw Vernon flinch beside me when Seungkwan entered the room.” Seungcheol went quiet for a bit before saying anything again. “That’s interesting and sounds like a bit of trouble ahead.” 

Jihoon cocked his head to the side, not really understanding what the alpha was talking about. “What’s so interesting about it? Alphas and omegas usually react to each other, that’s nothing new.”

Seungcheol sighted loudly and gave Jihoon a scolding look. “Ji, sometimes I think you never actually learned anything about alphas and omegas. Did you really stop caring about what is going on around you just because of your aggressive pills?” Jihoon’s ears heated slightly because he felt embarrassed that Seungcheol was right. He really stopped caring about alpha and omega biology when he started taking the suppressants. Of course he knew things from school, but some dynamics he still didn’t really understand. 

“All unmated alphas and omegas working here and also in many other professions are advised to use strong scent blocking body soap, so things won’t go crazy. Of course we can still smell who is omega and alpha, but the scent is very faint and there normally shouldn’t be a reaction on it from someone of the other gender in a normal situation.” Now that Seungcheol told him that, Jihoon nodded, remembering having heard about it before. As long as the pheromones don’t go out of control, due to stress, aggression, a heat or something similar, the scent blocking soap makes it possible for everyone to work quietly together.

“Then why did Vernon react to the new secretary’s scent?” Jihoon took a sip of his coffee and waited curiously for the answer. 

“In this case, there is actually only one explanation: They are a good match. And believe me when I say that doesn’t happen so often. The only time it happened to me was when I first met Hannie. I never met any omega beside him, where I reacted very strongly to their smell. Of course omegas smell good to alphas, but everyone has a different scent and not everyone’s scent is super appealing. At least when the omega is not in heat. Omegas in heat are a totally different topic, but we don’t even have to go there right now. I think we should keep an eye on Vernon for a while. Has he been together with an omega lately? You should know that better than me.”

Jihoon shrugged slightly. “Not since university if I remember right. He wanted to concentrate on work and hasn’t really searched for a relationship.” Seungcheol leaned back in his chair and looked outside where Vernon was sitting at his desk. 

“He’s a good guy and will be fine but still, you need to keep an eye on him. Maybe he wants to talk to you at one point… not that you are a big help, but I think he respects you a lot.” Jihoon snorted at those words. “Well, thank you and sorry for not being a big help with your alpha and omega drama… so will they end up together then?”

Seungcheol seemed to be lost in thought for a while before answering. “Difficult to say. Just because you are a good fit in your biology doesn’t mean that your mind and emotions are a good match. They have to see and figure it out by themselves. In the end it’s just a push your biology gives you to make you try and go for it. It’s no guarantee they’ll really end up liking each other.” Jihoon finished his coffee and threw the paper cup into the trash.

“This shit is complicated. And you always make us believe you are so much better off with your heightened smell, pheromones and whatever.”

Seungcheol grinned at him and pointed to the door outside. “Nothing is ever easy with love, Ji. Go back to work now. I know you want to avoid talking to Soonyoung, but you can’t do that forever. He just arrived.” Jihoon turned around to see Soonyoung standing at their table, talking to the other members of his team. 

“Whatever. See you later, hyung.” Jihoon got up slowly from the chair and walked back to his work desk. He completely avoided looking at Soonyoung on the way and only gave him a cold stare when he was standing right beside him.

“You are sitting in my chair.” Soonyoung looked up for a moment, shrugged just slightly and continued his listening to Wonwoo.

“I read the articles about your last case. It seems like you’ve become an awesome profiler during the last few years. That case was really difficult. Most people would have overlooked the evidence you found.” 

Jihoon saw how Soonyoung had a slightly awkward smile on his lips when he answered. “It didn’t really work out like my team and I wanted it to. If it did then we would have found the murderer earlier.”

Jihoon cleared his throat loudly. “Kwon, go the fuck away from my chair. And if you are already leaving, you might as well leave for good.” Soonyoung got up from the chair slowly and gave Jihoon a hard look. “Lee, I’m your team leader now, which makes me higher in rank. You should get a hold of yourself.”

Jihoon was clenching his teeth wanting to scream in annoyance. “You are not my boss or team leader or whatever. I won’t accept that.” Soonyoung still didn’t let any emotions show on his face and just continued on as he did before. 

“Then do you want me to tell the deputy chief that you like to be dismissed from the team?”

Seokmin suddenly sprang up from his chair and stood in between the fighting officers. “Maybe we should all calm down a bit, right?” Wonwoo also got up slowly and grabbed Jihoon by his arm. “I already told you to leave the past behind, why are you this stubborn right now?” Jihoon pulled his arm out of Wonwoo's hold, but before he could answer him, Jeonghan came running into the room.

“There had been a murder and they are requesting your help,” he told the team slightly out of breath while handing Jihoon a paper with an address on it.

Soonyoung let out a cold laugh and turned around. “I guess, the introductions will have to wait until later. We have a murder to solve first.” He looked over his shoulder right at Jihoon. “And those who don’t want to work together with me can stay here.”

With that Soonyoung began to leave the room with Seokmin and Vernon following him immediately. Jihoon still standing there frozen while Wonwoo looked at him with worried eyes. “Snap out of it Jihoon. This is your job. You love your job, so please get over it.”

Jihoon suddenly started moving again and ran after the others. Wonwoo was following him closely. “You are right. This is MY job. I won’t give up my job.”

Jihoon and Wonwoo caught up with the others just when they arrived at the car and Soonyoung opened the driver’s door. Without thinking he pushed the alpha hard to the side. “You don’t know your way around here so I’ll drive,” Soonyoung replied with a slight shrug and walked around the car to the passenger side. Jihoon strapped himself in the driver's seat and waited until everyone was seated before he drove off towards the crime scene.

This was Jihoon’s team, job and car. It was all his and he was determined to make sure Kwon Soonyoung would know that too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So first of all, I got a beta, which means that my writing mysteriously doesn't suck anymore :D I'm feeling really sorry and thankful to my beta, because I noticed I'm pretty useless in writing correct English. So thank you very much for correcting all the bullshit I'm writing <3
> 
> Hmm, in this chapter we can see that there probably lies a bit of a Vernon/Seungkwan story ahead. Which I haven't even planned out in detail, so let's see how this will turn out.  
Jihoon is still his pety self. I'm almost tired of it already, but we all have to live with Jihoon being that unreasonable for a bit longer.  
Next chapter will be the start of their first case. I personally like that chapter :D
> 
> Because I have a beta now, I don't really want to say when I'll update next. If I pressure myself it's okay, but I can't do that with other people. So I'll probably some day next week. Maybe it's better to get a subscription at that point, because I really can't tell an exact day right now.
> 
> Thank you for reading and all your lovely comments! See you soon again <3


	5. The Case

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some graphic description of violence in the first part of this chapter. Please skip it if it makes you feel uncomfortable.

The crime investigation unit arrived at the scene after a ten-minute drive from the police station. Jihoon had barely turned off the engine before Soonyoung already jumped out of the car and hurried over to the crime scene with the rest swiftly following their team leader.

The door to the apartment was open and two police officers awaiting them. The older one of the two immediately began talking to Soonyoung. “Good you came so fast. I didn’t expect to discover such a scene here when my colleague and I received the call. It was the sister who made the call. She wanted to drop off her cat at her brother’s place before her holidays, but he neither opened the door nor answered her phone calls. She’s still in shock. It’s good that she didn’t see her brother. You don’t see such a brutal murder often. I think it was…” Soonyoung held up a finger to signal the officer to stop talking. 

“We’ll take it from here, thank you, good job officers.”

Soonyoung went into the next room and found the victim at once. He had seen quite some brutal killings over the years, but this one was particularly gut-wrenching. The throat of the victim had been cut and there was another deep laceration across the stomach. The victim was completely naked, his hands were bound together and there was an obscene amount of blood everywhere

Soonyoung kneeled on the floor, leaned close to the victim and inspected the cut on the throat. “That wasn’t his first murder. The cut is far too clean for that. This all looks like some kind of ritual of the murderer already.” Soonyoung inspected the body closely and stopped at the hair of the victim. 

“The killer cut off some of his hair. It is bad that he took a trophy with him. He’s probably a pathological narcissist.”

The profiler got up from the floor again and looked at the officer he had spoken to earlier. “So the door was closed, but could you detect any signs of a forced break-in?” The officer just shook his head and Soonyoung clicked with his tongue. He already knew that this will be a messy case.

“You know, you can cut out your profiler-wonder-show here. I could have told you the same things at once. You are not all that special.” Soonyoung turned around to look at Jihoon who was spotting a smug expression. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that if you wouldn’t have unnecessarily behaved like some kind of boss here, I could have told you immediately that we worked on a very similar case a while ago.” Soonyoung felt anger flaring up in him and tried his best to push it away. It was very difficult when Jihoon was undermining his authority at every turn. It didn’t go well with his alpha character and even less so with his new position as team leader. Still, he swallowed all of the anger down before speaking in the most pacific tone he could muster.

“When was this case? And how similar are the two cases?” Jihoon collected his thoughts for a short moment before answering. 

“It must have been two months ago, I think. And the victim pretty much looked the same. Same cuts, male omega, all naked and hands bound together. Even some of his hair was missing too.” This case had suddenly gotten from bad to really worrisome in a matter of seconds. Two months wasn’t a long time in between two murders.

“How did the cuts look the last time?” 

This time it was Wonwoo who stepped forward and answered before Jihoon could. “Not quite as clean as here, but also not like it was the first cut the murderer had made.” Soonyoung pushed his hair out of his face and walked up and down the apartment. 

“So there must have been at least one more murder we don’t know of. Why didn’t you catch him the last time?”

Soonyoung heard Jihoon snorting loudly. “Excuse us mister super profiler, but there was nothing we could work with the last time! No fingerprints, no body fluids, because there wasn’t any sexual violence and no signs of a break-in. Also, no one saw the killer! Do you think we didn’t try everything?”

Soonyoung gave him a sharp look, not liking how the other talked with him at all. “Maybe you just didn’t look closely enough.” Jihoon immediately walked over to Soonyoung and grabbed him by the collar. 

“Are you implying that we are not doing our job right?” Soonyoung didn’t react to Jihoon’s outburst. He didn’t even bother to get out of the other’s grip. 

“Well, you don’t seem to know how to behave in front of your superior, so how should I know if you can actually do your job right?”

Jihoon was already hauling off to punch Soonyoung, but Wonwoo and Seokmin grabbed him before he could do it. “Who are you to tell me something like this?? We are all good officers! You have no right to say that!” Jihoon was trying to shake the other two off with all his strength, so even Vernon had to come and help hold his team member back. 

“You better start behaving like a police officer and not like a crazy dog then. Like I said, if you don’t want to cooperate, I can request for your transfer, Lee.”

Jihoon was still struggling against the holds of the other’s, a furious glint in his eyes. “Calm down, Jihoon. This is a crime scene, you have to calm down NOW,” Wonwoo told him in a calm but authoritative voice. Jihoon took a couple of deep breaths and stopped struggling at last.

“We need photos of everything and all information about the victim. We also need his phone and computer if he had one. Just everything that could be useful.” The two police officers nodded. “The forensic team should be here any minute. We’ll send everything to your office once they cleared the scene.” Soonyoung signaled the other members of his team to follow him outside again.

“We’ll go back to the police station and get of all reports and materials about the murder case you worked on two months ago. We don’t have a lot of time. If he already killed after two brief months, his cooling down phase will just become even shorter. He could kill again at any moment. We have to catch him as soon as possible, we can’t risk getting one more person killed.” The others nodded in agreement and Jihoon didn’t make any snide remark this time.

“Let’s go. You can drive again, if that makes you happy, Lee.” Jihoon shot him a dark look, but didn’t make any comment and just went over to the driver’s seat. They needed to sort out their differences soon. They couldn’t go on working like this, because it was slowing them down to fight all the time. Soonyoung didn’t even want to fight with Jihoon, this was all pretty ridiculous to him. He hadn’t done anything bad in the first place to deserve all of this hate. He knew where it came from, but that didn’t mean that he thought he deserved any of it.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Back at the police station, Jihoon loudly expressed that he would get all the documents from the previous case, not even bothering directing it at Soonyoung. “Vernon, come and help me,” he told the youngest of his team and they both walked in silence over to the other department. They were greeted by two secretaries seemingly in a good mood. 

“Jihoonie!! What can we do for you?” Jeonghan asked in a chipper voice. Jihoon smiled at him while observing Vernon from the corner of his eye, who stood very stiffly beside him staring at the new secretary. Vernon was always a bit stiff, but something seemed to be a bit off right now.

“Is everything going well, Boo Seungkwan-sshi?” Seungkwan jumped up from his seat at the question. 

“Just Seungkwan is enough! And yes, everything is going really well. I like it here a lot already. I heard many things from Jeonghan-hyung about you! You are impressive Jihoon-sshi!” Jihoon chuckled at Seungkwan’s overly energetic attitude. 

“There is nothing impressive about me. I’m just doing my job. You could have also done it.”

Seungkwan suddenly started laughing loudly. “No way. I like my job as a secretary. I can do good deeds with it. I don’t have to run around trying to catch killers. That’s not my cup of tea.” Jihoon nodded his head understanding at once what Seungkwan wanted to tell him.

It was a well-known gender prejudice that omegas always take easy jobs - easy jobs where they can help alphas in higher positions. It was a prejudice that Jihoon fought his whole life, but Boo Seungkwan just didn’t seem to care much about it. Maybe Seungkwan was leading a more satisfying life with that attitude.

“We came here because we need all files and documents about that brutal omega-murder-case. You know Jeonghan-hyung, the cold case from two months ago?” Jeonghan looked like he was deep in thought before answering. 

“Oh right, I remember that one. Did you get a new lead on the case?”

“I wouldn’t really call it a new lead. The crime scene we just went to, the victim was killed the exact same manner as the omega from two months ago.” Jeonghan inhaled sharply. “So it’s a serial killer?” 

Jihoon nodded. “Yeah, it looks like it. And because the cases are only two months apart, we have to hurry up and catch the killer before he gets another chance to find another victim.” 

“Seungkwan and I will search for all documents immediately. Don’t worry. We’ll bring them over as soon as possible.” Jihoon smiled at his friend and turned around without saying another word. When he and Vernon walked down the corridor, the younger officer stopped suddenly his step. 

“Why did you take me along? It wasn’t necessary.”

Jihoon also stopped and turned around to Vernon. “Sorry, that was a bit out of line. I wanted to see your reaction to Seungkwan again.” Vernon greeted him with a small smile to Jihoon’s surprise. 

“I’m surprised you noticed. You normally don’t notice things like that.” Jihoon casually leaned against the wall and his stare not focusing on anything. “Yeah well, it was difficult not to notice how you reacted on his first day.” Vernon hummed a bit, keeping the amused expression. 

“So what? What do you actually want to know?” Jihoon felt a bit bad his junior was seeing through him that easily. “I’m just curious about what you’ll do now. Will you ask him on a date?”

“You have my highest respect as a police officer, hyung, but excuse me if I’ll tell you that you know absolutely nothing about alpha-omega-dynamics. Why would I ask him out on a date now? Just because I like his smell? Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t even know him.” Jihoon’s jaw dropped at Vernon’s surprisingly harsh answer. He wasn’t used to the younger one talking like this. Normally he was always very calm and collected.

“Sorry, I overstepped. You are right, I really know nothing… still if you ever feel the need to talk, you know you can come to me.” Vernon smiled at him again and started walking down the corridor once more. “Let’s just wait and see what happens.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

The whole team sat for hours over the documents of the last case. All of them were quietly reading most of the time, only speaking up when someone found an interesting aspect. At one point all the belongings of the victim arrived at their office turning everything into a big mess. There were so many boxes with items, documents and electronic devices. They would probably need a couple of days to go through all evidence.

At half-past eight, Soonyoung closed the file in front of him and got up from his chair. “Let’s call it a day. We have been working for over 12 hours without a break. We all could need some sleep to be able to concentrate on finding a lead tomorrow.” Jihoon also got up from his seat and walked over to Soonyoung. 

“Are you that weak? Can’t you pull an all-nighter, aren’t you an alpha?”

Before Soonyoung could answer, Wonwoo was already getting in between them. “He’s right, Jihoon. We do need some rest. Just one all-nighter won’t be enough and you know that very well. It will take days to go through everything.” Soonyoung gave Wonwoo a thankful smile and grabbed some files from his desk. 

“Let’s go home everyone.”

“But it’s okay if you take files home or what?” Soonyoung ignored Jihoon’s question and simply walked over to his office. “He’s still an arrogant ass. Always thinking he is something better.” Wonwoo shook his head at Jihoon’s words but chose to say nothing.

“Alright, let’s go home. See you tomorrow at 8 o’clock again!!” Seokmin’s voice was still loud and cheerful despite working hard all day long. Jihoon really couldn’t understand how the other managed to do that. 

“Whatever. See you tomorrow then, I guess.” Jihoon grabbed his stuff alongside a staple of files from his table. If Kwon could take files home, he certainly could do that too.

Jihoon drove home as fast as possible and started feeling tired the moment he came into his apartment. However, going to bed wasn’t an option for him at this point. He still needed to read the files he brought home with him. He sat for two hours at his desk reading through a couple of files. He was far from finishing all of them but he was beginning to have trouble keeping his eyes open. The only thing that could save him now was a coffee or an energy drink or better both.

Jihoon got up and walked over into the kitchen just to find an empty fridge. He didn’t even know what he expected to find here. His fridge was almost always empty. He sighed tiredly and went over to his desk again to grab his wallet. He headed out to the nearest convenience store planning to grab some coffee, energy drinks and maybe even some coke. Come what may, Jihoon needed to read some more files before going to bed. Soonyoung was probably doing the same and he couldn’t get the other get ahead of him.

When Jihoon came out of his apartment complex, he saw a big van parking in front of it. The trunk was open and Jihoon saw a couple of boxes inside. He stopped for a moment in wonder who the van belonged to.

“Lee? What are you doing here?” Jihoon turned around in shock hearing the all too familiar voice. 

“Kwon?” Soonyoung was spotting a surprised expression while looking at his colleague. “Don’t tell me you are moving into one of the apartments.” 

Soonyoung shrugged his shoulders at Jihoon’s question. “The deputy chief seems to have a strange sense of humor to recommend me an apartment in the same complex you are living in.”

“You must be joking.” Jihoon looked furious. How much worse could his life even get at this point? Did the deputy chief really hate him that much? “You can’t move in here. This is my home! You already terrorize me at work. You can’t terrorize me at home too.” Soonyoung rolled his eyes and went over to his car to get another box. He lifted it with ease and walked past Jihoon. 

“Don’t worry. I don’t want to see you during my private time either.”

Jihoon turned around to look after Soonyoung who just walked away without further comment. Suddenly Jihoon felt like he needed a drink, and just coffee wouldn’t do it. He needed to fix this somehow. He couldn’t live in the same apartment complex as Kwon Soonyoung.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I had some spare time today, so I decided to update now. The world setting is more or less finished, so we'll dive deeper into the story and characters starting in the next chapter. It will be actually already the first turning point in this story :) Jihoon will learn that his behavior actually has consequences, which is overdue, I guess.
> 
> This will probably be the only update of Code Red this week. I'm actually planning to post the first chapter of another story later this week... most probably on Thursday or Friday. I'll explain more about it at that time :)
> 
> Thanks to my beta for making my story better <3 And thank you for reading :D


	6. Mediation

The doorbell was ringing furiously and Jeonghan opened the door with an annoyed look on his face. As soon as the door was opened far enough to get inside, Jihoon made his way into the apartment without even waiting for the invite in.

“Do you have coffee?” Seungcheol sat on the couch in the living room, a book in his hand and reading glasses on his nose. He laid the book on the table and looked in wonder at Jihoon. 

“Not that you aren’t welcome here, but why are you coming to our apartment at half past eleven asking for a coffee? Why didn’t you get some coffee from the convenience store?” Jihoon sat down on the armchair he always sat on when he visited Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s apartment.

“I won’t go outside again.” Jeonghan who now had also joined them, sat down beside his mate on the couch. 

“Why? Is there a wild animal outside?” Jihoon crossed his arms in front of him obviously angry. “No, worse. Kwon Soonyoung.” 

Seungcheol and Jeonghan looked at each other for a moment and then back at Jihoon. “Why is Soonyoung outside, Ji?” 

Jihoon suddenly sprang up from the armchair and started walking in circles around the living room. “He’s moving in! Can you believe that? The deputy chief advised him to move into an apartment here. I can’t believe it. What did I do to deserve all of this?”

“Ji, calm down a bit and sit down again. It’s not the apocalypse that he moves into an apartment here. You’ll probably not even see him that often.” Jihoon threw his hands up in the air in pure frustration, but sat down in the armchair as he was told. The anger burned so badly inside of him it was difficult for Jihoon to handle. The worst of all was that he didn’t even understand why he was angry to begin with. He hasn’t felt this agitated in a long time.

“Jihoonie, this is not normal behavior for you. What really happened between the two of you?” Jihoon looked at Jeonghan without answering. His thoughts slowly drifted to that fateful night many years ago.

_“You have such pretty eyelashes, Jihoonie.” he shoved Soonyoung slightly into the side. Both men had been drinking too much but Jihoon was starting to get really annoyed with the other. He had been upset with Soonyoung the whole day for beating him in every single subject. He shouldn’t vent his anger on Soonyoung, but he just couldn’t help it. _

_“Shut it, Kwon. You’re digging your own grave right now.” Soonyoung gave him a warm smile and leant a bit closer to him. _

_“And such pretty lips. You’re just so pretty, Jihoonie.” Soonyoung leaned even closer to him until his cheek pressed against Jihoon’s cheek. He slowly rubbed his cheek across Jihoon’s cheek and then along the other’s throat until he arrived at the neck. He left a small kiss there and Jihoon suddenly snapped in that moment. He punched Soonyoung square on the face and the other fell off his chair with a surprised look on his face. _

_“Never touch me again you asshole!”_

Jihoon felt his gut clenching at the memory. He had been angry and humiliated. He could never forgive that behavior. “He scented me,” Jihoon told his friends shortly. He wouldn’t need to say more, because it was obvious how bad that was.

To his surprise, Jeonghan didn’t look shocked at all but suddenly started laughing loudly. “You are so stupid, Lee Jihoon.” The officer felt even more anger bubbling up in him. He expected some sympathy and not to get mocked over the incident. 

“Why would you call me stupid? Do you know how humiliating it is to get scented when you are an omega, who feels more like a beta? It’s ridiculous! He obviously wanted to humiliate me. An alpha only scents an omega to mark his territory. Alphas don’t scent betas, because they can’t even smell them!” Jeonghan suddenly stopped laughing and gave Jihoon a stern look.

“You really have no idea what it was all about, do you?” Jihoon didn’t know what Jeonghan tried to say. He was frustrated and agitated. 

“What do you mean?” Jeonghan shrugged. “You have to find out on your own, because it is you should know. And if you can’t figure it out, then just die stupid.”

“HYUNG!!” 

Seungcheol sat a bit closer to his mate and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I also don’t know what’s going on. Maybe you could explain it to the both of us.” Jeonghan swatted Seungcheols hand away and gave him a sharp look. 

“Like I said, Jihoon has to figure it out by himself. He’s being an unreasonable idiot and I can’t stand it. Maybe he should really think clearly for once about what happened all those years ago and the real reason he’s so angry in the first place.” 

Jihoon couldn’t take his friend’s talk anymore and got up again. “Thank you for your help then,” he said sharply and walked towards the door. Seungcheol immediately came after him and held him by the arm. 

“Don’t go like this. You know how Hannie can be at times. He doesn’t really mean it like that. Come on, stay and I’ll make you coffee.” Jihoon relaxed a bit at Seungcheol’s words but still opened the door.

“Thanks for the offer, but it’s late and I don’t want to keep you up. We’ll see each other at work. And NO, I’m not angry at either of you, okay?” Seungcheol smiled at him and let Jihoon’s arm go. “Alright, see you tomorrow at work.”

Jihoon went from the third floor to the second where his apartment was located. Just when he opened his door, he saw Soonyoung coming out of the elevator. Just his luck that the other’s apartment was on the same floor as his. 

Jihoon entered his apartment quickly and dove head first onto the couch. He still didn’t know what Jeonghan meant earlier. Was there something he had missed all these years? Maybe he really should give it some more thought, but right now Jihoon felt a massive headache building so it would be better to sleep. He wouldn’t get any work done like this, so at least a few hours of sleep could be helpful for the upcoming day.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

The slight headache Jihoon had before going to bed had evolved into a full blown headache the next morning. He took a painkiller before leaving the house and hoped that the headache would be gone when he arrived at work.

Unfortunately, the headache was still there when he came into the office. He threw his bag onto his desk and went straight to the coffee machine. He hoped for the caffeine to give him some relief. He was in a plain bad mood, not only didn’t the throbbing pain in his head refuse to go away but he didn’t sleep well at all.

Adding to all of this, Jeonghan’s words from the night before also fueled his foul mood. Nothing that Jeonghan had said made any sense to him. One fact was painfully obvious for him though: Jeonghan seemed to know what was going on and Seungcheol didn’t. So it probably was omega-related and he didn’t even want to think about that. He wasn’t even living as a normal omega so to think it was related to the biology he couldn’t escape pissed Jihoon off even more. Jihoon figured that it would be best to ignore the whole deal for that simple reason.

Jihoon went over to his desk again, sat down and grabbed the first file he could find. “Also a good morning to you Jihoon. Didn’t sleep well?” Jihoon looked from the file up and was greeted by a smiling Wonwoo. He had seen that Wonwoo had been there, he just didn’t feel like talking at the moment. Unfortunately for him, Wonwoo seemed to have other plans. 

“It’s rather a bad morning than a good morning I would say.”

“What happened?” Wonwoo asked and Jihoon leaned back in his chair. Annoyance was written all over his face. 

“Nothing much. Kwon moved into my apartment complex. Jeonghan told me I’m an idiot, but apart from that everything is just peachy.” Wonwoo got up from his chair opposite of Jihoon and walked around the table to sit down beside his friend.

“Jihoon, you know that this stupid feud between the two of you has to stop, right?” Jihoon turned away from Wonwoo and started looking at the file again. 

“Leave it Wonwoo. I need to start going through the files now. I have to find something before Kwon even gets here.”

“This is not a competition, Jihoon. We are trying to solve a murder case here. Together. This is not about your hurt ego, but about people losing their lives.” Jihoon got up from his chair and walked away without saying another word. Wonwoo followed him to the conference room where the smaller one had sat down.

“Don’t follow me. Go away.” Wonwoo grabbed the file that Jihoon had taken with him and sat down in the chair beside him. 

“Not before we had a chance to talk.” 

Jihoon balled his hands into fists. He wanted to walk away again, but he knew that Wonwoo wouldn’t give up at this point. “Everyone just tells me all the time that my behavior is wrong. No one sees that Kwon’s behavior back then wasn’t that great either! You know that I chose this lifestyle to not get treated the way Kwon treated me that evening! He fucking scented me. You know that his behavior hurt me, but still everyone is on Kwon’s side!”

Wonwoo stared silently ahead and Jihoon knew what that meant. Wonwoo was busily thinking about something, probably going through all the consequences his words would have. “Jihoon, I’ll tell you now something that you won’t like. I promised Soonyoung to never talk about it, but you really leave me no other choice with all your hate towards the guy.”

Jihoon was confused why Soonyoung had talked to Wonwoo and especially why he should keep it a secret. Wonwoo was his best friend. He shouldn’t keep secrets from him. 

“During university, I really liked Soonyoung. The exactly same way I liked you. Even though we only spent time together for two months, we had become good friends and if it were up to me, then we would have stayed that way. After you hit Soonyoung that night and swore to never talk to him ever again, you put me in a difficult position, Jihoon. I tried to get you to talk to him hundreds of times, but you simply wouldn’t listen. One day I went to look for Soonyoung and do you know what he told me?” Jihoon was fidgeting with his fingers nervously. He didn’t like where this was going.

“He said that I should take care of you and that you needed a friend more than he did. That I should just ignore him and he would be fine.” A very unsettling feeling was creeping up on Jihoon. He felt like running away, but at the same time he knew he had to listen to what Wonwoo was revealing.

“And you in your hate never watched Soonyoung. You only saw his academic success and his cool attitude. But I watched him and do you know what I saw? I saw very lonely person without a single friend. You were the one who took that away from him and now you are also the one to take responsibility for your behavior.” Jihoon felt slightly sick, guilt burning deep in his gut. 

“And to make it even worse for you, I think he is still all alone. When he arrived first in our office, Seungcheol offered him to come along to our meetup, but he politely declined. From what I’ve seen in his gaze and posture, he didn’t even want to come along. I’m pretty sure he’s a loner. And that is quite shocking, because we both know that he’s actually a very social person.”

Jihoon wanted to deny everything, but Wonwoo was always right with such things. He’s very perceptive with people. He can easily see through everyone. It’s a great quality as police officer but it had exposed Jihoon countless times already. Jihoon could not even once hide something from Wonwoo and Jihoon believed that he had a pretty good poker face. Wonwoo’s knowledge of people was just exceptionally high.

Jihoon felt completely defeated. He should have listened to the voice in the back of his mind that kept on telling him that he was behaving like a child. He only wanted to see that he had been hurt by Soonyoung, but the truth was that he had hurt Soonyoung a lot more with his behavior. Soonyoung really had been a bright person when they first met. He had many friends, was loud and happy. Jihoon couldn’t understand what actually happened to him. Even if it was partly his fault that Soonyoung ended up alone, that couldn’t be the only reason for his change.

Now Jihoon had gotten himself in a very difficult situation, not only did he behave like an idiot once but twice. During university he didn’t care about what happened to Soonyoung, because he had been very self-absorbed at that time. But now many years later, he was living a happy life with many good friends and he couldn’t help feeling guilty that Soonyoung was living the exact opposite way.

“What should I do now?” Jihoon's voice was small. He felt like a hurt puppy not knowing what to do. 

“Shouldn’t you be the one to think about that?” Jihoon nodded his head shortly avoiding the gaze of Wonwoo. 

“I don’t think I can fix this anymore, Wonwoo.” Wonwoo grabbed Jihoon's shoulder and the smaller one lifted his head again. “It’s never too late to make things right. I think you both just need to talk to each other. You actually should have done that many, many years ago, but sometimes you just don’t listen to me.”

“I’m sorry.” Jihoon’s voice was getting smaller and smaller. He really just wanted to hide in a corner right now. He felt so very stupid. 

“You shouldn’t tell that to me, but to Soonyoung. So will you behave now at last?”

Jihoon nodded his head and saw a big smile spreading on Wonwoo’s face. “Good, it was really getting annoying to work with you. I really love you Jihoon, but you were totally out of line.” Wonwoo took his phone out of his pocket and typed a message in a hurry.

“Whom are you messaging?” Jihoon asked curiously. It was a bit strange that Wonwoo would send a message in a situation like this. 

“I actually told Mingyu this morning that I could make you two stop fighting and he didn’t believe me that I would manage to do it. He said he’ll pay for our next ten dates if I’m right.” Jihoon suddenly felt like hitting Wonwoo, but he wasn’t even really surprised with what he just heard. Wonwoo and Mingyu were always betting on the most ridiculous things and most of the time Wonwoo was ending up as the winner.

“I hate you a bit right now, do you know that? Don’t make a bet about me!” Wonwoo just shoved Jihoon out of the conference room and chuckled slightly. 

“Don’t take my fun away, Jihoon. You should worry about the case and what you’ll do with Soonyoung instead.” Jihoon stopped again and grabbed Wonwoo by the arm so he turned around to him.

“You should have told me all of this back then.” Wonwoo sighed slightly like he knew that Jihoon would retort with something like that. “It wouldn’t have made a difference at that time. You were still really difficult at university. You were just a small, angry boy.” 

Jihoon immediately interrupted his friend. “Did you just call me small, angry boy?” 

Wonwoo laughed a bit and just carried on with what he wanted to say. “You had trust issues and didn’t like people in general. I could tell you now, because you are different and all grown up. At university you would have probably said that it would be for the best if Soonyoung stayed far away from me. And that it serves him right to be alone.” Jihoon flinched slightly and let Wonwoo’s arm go. His friend was right with everything he said. It really wouldn’t have made a difference at university.

“Now let’s get back to work. We have a case to solve. Don’t worry too much. Everything will work out somehow.” Even though Wonwoo already started walking again, Jihoon spoke up once more. 

“I’m sorry for making you choose between me and Soonyoung at that time.” Wonwoo turned around once more and smiled at Jihoon. “You’re my best friend, Jihoon. Even if you were a pest at times, I would have never left you behind.” Jihoon smiled at Wonwoo and was unbelievably grateful that he had such a good friend. He really didn’t deserve him. 

“Thank you, for always being there.” 

“You are becoming slightly creepy now. Stop being all mushy and let’s go back.” Jihoon laughed loudly and followed Wonwoo back into the office. His eyes immediately caught Vernon who was sitting at his desk while talking with Seungkwan. Seungkwan was making big movements with his arms obviously telling Vernon a funny story. Vernon just smiled slightly at the omega while listening intently. Maybe these two didn’t even need any help. They seemed to get along just fine taking small steps on their own.

Jihoon walked over to his desk and noticed immediately the electronic devices lying there. “They belonged to the victim. The IT people just brought them over and said that we can have a look at them.” Jihoon grabbed the smartphone and started scrolling through the photos where he couldn’t find anything interesting and then through the address book. One name caught his interest at once.

“I think I’ve found something.” His team members looked at him curiously and Jihoon felt relieved they might have a lead at last. “I know this one name on his phone from the other case. It’s the name of a fitness instructor.” 

Seokmin got up from his seat and looked at the phone in Jihoon’s hand. “It’s really the same guy. I remember his name too. Should we go and talk with him?”

Jihoon shook his head. “No, first of all we don’t have any real proof that he has something to do with the murders. And secondly if he’s really the killer and if we just go and talk with him, we might never be able to catch him. He would get alarmed and destroy any possible evidence. Or he could kill another person as stress reaction. I think it would be better to observe him first to see if he’s fitting into the profile.” 

Seokmin cocked his head to the side like he always did when he was thinking. “That sounds reasonable, I guess.”

“Where is Kwon?” Jihoon saw how Wonwoo got a small smile on his lips and he didn’t like it one bit. The other must know already exactly what would happen next. He really hated it when Wonwoo just knew everything. 

“He’s in his office. He said he needs some quiet to go through the things,” Vernon said and Jihoon got up from his chair immediately.

“That’s bullshit. I’ll go to his office.” Jihoon walked with big steps to Soonyoung’s office and tried to push the talk with Wonwoo out of his mind. This was about work and he couldn’t panic now. 

Jihoon went into Soonyoung’s office without knocking and the other looked up from the file he was reading. “I’ve found something. Both victims had the same fitness instructor.” Soonyoung closed the file and leaned back in his chair. 

“What do you want to do now?” The alpha asked quietly, probably expecting one of Jihoon’s outbreaks again.

“I think it would be best to observe him first. Going to him would be mindless.” 

Soonyoung stared at Jihoon for a moment before talking up. “Alright, I’ll go and observe him.” Soonyoung got up from his seat and walked to the door. Just when he wanted to grab the handle, Jihoon stopped him. 

“I also want to go.” Soonyoung looked at him in surprise.

“Are you suggesting that we’ll go and observe him together?” Jihoon knew that his behavior must be strange to Soonyoung right now. He had been nothing but a pain in the ass to him since he arrived and he suddenly tried to act civil. If he would be in Soonyoung’s shoes, he wouldn’t understand what was going on either. 

“Well, yes. That’s what I wanted to say.”

Soonyoung blinked a few times and then grabbed the door handle and walked out. In the corridor he stopped again. “Alright, let’s do it then. Hurry, we have some plans to make.” Jihoon let out a relieved sigh and felt some tension leaving his body. Things were still far from being good between them, but talking once in a civil manner already felt like a small victory. Still, this observation would most probably turn into one awfully awkward affair. 

Jihoon left Soonyoung’s office and looked after the team leader. He knew there was a price he needed to pay for his stupid behavior and he had a feeling that the price would be very high.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! First I thought about updating tomorrow, because everyone might be a bit busy with the comeback, but I'm busy myself tomorrow and 24 hours are over since the album dropped, so this timing didn't seem too bad to me.
> 
> Wonwoo saved the day. Bless him. Next chapter we'll get Jihoon and Soonyoung talking at last in a civil manner. I really didn't want to drag this all out for too long, because it would have gotten too annoying soon. So their whole dynamic will change pretty soon and everything will get more fun then :D
> 
> I still don't don't when I'll update next. Can't promise to actually manage this week, but at latest next Tuesday! Thank you like always to my awesome beta. And thank you for still reading this. From the lack of reactions I got for the last chapters I know that the story hasn't been all too interesting lately, but it will hopefully get better soon. Have a nice day and see you soon <3
> 
> PS: For updates you can always follow my messy Twitter account @just_a_pinwheel. I normally write there the date I'll update next when I know for sure.


	7. Observation

Jihoon and Soonyoung were on the way to the gym to observe the suspect. Jihoon drove the car and Soonyoung sat in silence beside him. It was slowly getting dark outside and Jihoon had to fight back a yawn. The short night and eventful day was slowly wearing him down.

He and Soonyoung talked over their plan earlier for a long time. While discussing the observation, Jihoon had also described Soonyoung the suspect in full detail. Jihoon knew what he looked like since they had questioned him for the last case. They had desperately tried to find a lead at that time and talked to everyone who knew the victim, but everything had been in vain. In the end they couldn’t find the killer and another murder was committed.

Jihoon glanced at Soonyoung who sat stiffly beside him while staring out of the window. Already at the very moment they got into the car together, Jihoon felt the awkward atmosphere between them weighing him down. They hadn’t said a single word since driving off and that had been a good ten minutes ago. Somehow he felt the need to break the silence between them and the easiest topic was the case. 

“What do you think about the suspect? Could he really be the killer?” Jihoon stopped the car because of a red light and turned around to Soonyoung who seemed to be thinking about the question.

“He doesn’t fit the profile. From the way he killed, I’m pretty sure he’s a pathological narcissist. Fitness instructor isn’t a job that someone like the killer would choose. He needs more power.” Jihoon stepped on the gas when the light turned green and considered Soonyoung’s words. He had thought about that too. Still he tried to hold onto the idea of the fitness instructor being the killer, because they had no other leads. That Soonyoung had the same impression made him feel quite uneasy. He didn’t want to lose their only lead.

“I considered that too. The killer probably has a high position in his job. He needs the power to control people. But then again it can’t be a really high profile job, because his character is probably too nasty for that.” Jihoon saw the gym they were searching for coming up in the distance. He slowed down the car and parked close to the studio, but not right in front of it. Only few cars were driving by. It was quite peaceful in this part of Seoul and Jihoon would have liked to either sleep or take a walk now. Both were out of question because they needed to get the job done.

“Yes, but it’s just a profile we make and we could be wrong with it. We can’t simply exclude suspects because of a certain profile we have in our heads.” Jihoon nodded at Soonyoung’s words. That was the small hope he had left. That the profile they made was wrong.

Jihoon took the seat belt off and leaned back in his seat. “You are right. There is nothing else we can do now but wait for the suspect. The studio will close in 10 minutes so he’ll hopefully turn up soon. For now we can only observe and follow him.”

Soonyoung didn’t comment on Jihoon’s words and they fell back into the uncomfortable silence from earlier. Jihoon started feeling restless fast with his mind going in circles. The talk he had with Wonwoo earlier was constantly nagging in the back of his mind. He couldn’t ignore it forever.

Right now was maybe the best situation to talk with Soonyoung about everything. They were so busy with the case that there wasn’t time to have a quiet talk. If he didn’t muster up the courage to talk to Soonyoung now, he probably had to wait after the case is closed. That didn’t seem like a good choice, his guilty conscience had been calling him out multiple times today and he couldn’t live with that for weeks. He needed to get it off his chest fast. This stupid grudge he had hold onto for years needed a final closure. He was ready to move on and make things easier between them from now on.

Jihoon looked at Soonyoung who had his head turned away to look at the entrance of the gym. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves a bit. Jihoon had to do this talk. He hated to admit that he had been an idiot for far too long, but needed to fix things between them.

“Kwon… Soonyoung, I want to apologize. I haven’t behaved very professional since you arrived.” Soonyoung turned around to look at Jihoon. He looked positively surprised at what he heard. His eyes were softer than all the days before and Jihoon liked it a lot better than his constant hard gaze. 

“Where does this sudden change of mind come from?” Jihoon gulped and considered ignoring the question, but decided in the end that it was time to really talk things through.

“Wonwoo spoke with me and yeah… I didn’t behave well - not in university or now. I’m not such an asshole anymore and I just shouldn’t have behaved so badly when you turned up at the police station.” Soonyoung nodded his head and looked out of the window again. 

“I would have liked it if you had talked with me at university about what happened. It’s not like I don’t know that I did something wrong, but all the hate over so many years was a bit too much.”

Jihoon kept on looking at Soonyoung and saw how the alpha clenched his jaw tightly. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one who thought this talk was difficult. “I know and I’m sorry. I just was so angry. I’m actually still angry when I think about it. You were always ahead of me and then you also did this humiliating thing. Why would you scent a beta? I’m not really an omega, you know?”

Soonyoung turned his head back around looking a bit confused. “That’s why you were so angry? Because you thought I mocked and humiliated you?” Jihoon gnawed at his lip slightly. He worried about what Soonyoung would say next.

“I was for sure out of line for scenting you because that’s something you should do with consent. But I didn’t do it to humiliate you. I don’t know how you even got the idea I would have done something like that to you. Didn’t we get along well before that evening?” Jihoon thought for some time about Soonyoung’s words and had to acknowledge that the other was right. Soonyoung never behaved like he was better because he’s and alpha, neither did he brag about his higher academic results.

“I don’t know. I just…” Jihoon suddenly stopped talking because he didn’t know what to say anymore. Everything had always made perfect sense in his head, but now nothing fit together anymore. It was like a puzzle falling apart.

“I was pretty drunk that evening and I didn’t even know what I was doing anymore, Jihoon. I just followed my instincts and I really want to apologize for that. I tried to apologize at university already but you were never listening to me.” Jihoon stared at Soonyoung. He heard the words coming out of the other’s mouth but couldn’t understand the meaning. 

“I don’t understand what you are talking about.”

“Don’t you get it, Jihoon? I liked you at that time. I really liked you a lot.” Jihoon felt like someone had emptied a bucket of ice water over his head. His pupils were nervously shaking slightly and he wanted to open the window suddenly to get some fresh air, because his lungs were burning. He couldn’t breathe anymore. 

“That can’t be. You are an alpha. You wouldn’t like someone like me.”

Soonyoung huffed slightly. “Why wouldn’t I? You are intelligent, strong and beautiful. I couldn’t help falling for you. What difference do the suppressants make? Biology can’t make you like people. It’s your heart that makes you want them. Maybe I’m a bit unusual in that aspect, but I really just liked you for who you were.” Jihoon felt the need to get out of the car, but they were still on an observation so he was bound to stay in his seat.

He had been really blind about many things. If he would have looked for clues, he might have even been able to see that Soonyoung liked him at that time. Soonyoung had asked him many times if just the two of them could meet up but he had always declined, because he thought that Wonwoo would have felt left out then. He had been an idiot. 

“I’m sorry, Soonyoung.”

Soonyoung turned his head once more around hiding whatever emotion was in his eyes in the moment. “It’s okay. It’s all in the past now.” Somehow, everything was now a lot worse than before. He hadn’t just cut off their friendship and made Soonyoung lonely but he had in fact broken the other’s heart in a very cruel way. He hated Soonyoung while the other had loved him.

“Wonwoo said you never had friends after us at university again.” Soonyoung turned his head around again, a slight smile on his lips. But that smile didn’t reach his eyes. 

“It’s not your mistake if you think that. I needed to focus on my studies so this cut actually came at the right time.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. Everyone needs friends! You can’t do everything alone.” Soonyoung’s smile turned into a little smirk, but there were still no emotions in his eyes. He was hiding them expertly. 

“I think I’m doing quite well. The National Intelligence Service is right in front of my eyes and that’s everything that is important.”

Jihoon remembered suddenly a conversation he had with Soonyoung when they were friends. The other had told him how his father worked for the National Intelligence Service and the he wanted Soonyoung to join it later too. He had been under a lot of pressure if Jihoon remembered correctly. “Is that still your goal? Is your father pressuring you even now?”

Soonyoung shrugged slightly and didn’t answer. “Soonyoung, if you want to be our team leader, we need to be able to trust you. If you don’t open up then you are bound to fail your job.” Soonyoung still didn’t answer Jihoon and it left him feel frustrated. 

“Good. Don’t talk about it then. You don’t need to talk about it, but you nevertheless need to get along with us. I still have some things to make up for, so I’ll help you.”

“Leave it, Jihoon. You have nothing to make up for. If we can work professionally with each other, it’s more than enough for me.” Jihoon shook his head strongly, his hair messily falling into his face.

“You know me, I’m stubborn. I held on to this stupid grudge for this long and now I’ll make up for it. I’ll show you that it’s important to have friends.” Jihoon saw an annoyed glint lightning up in Soonyoung’s eyes. He really must have hit a nerve. Other people would stop now annoying an alpha, but Jihoon never had been like other people.

“Just don’t. I’m glad we talked about everything, because I also feel better now having everything off my chest, but I really don’t need any help. I’m doing fine.” Jihoon snorted loudly and the annoyance in Soonyoung’s eyes visibly grew larger. “You are coming to our next meetup. I don’t take no as an answer.”

“I won’t go.” Soonyoung said shortly. Jihoon could feel that the team leader was close to snapping, but he didn’t even care. His bad coincidence and stubbornness was pushing him to go even further. 

“You said you were out of line for scenting me. I’ll only accept your apology for that if you come to our next meetup.”

Soonyoung’s mouth fell open, obviously not believing what was happening. “Jihoon, we didn’t exchange one friendly word for years and now you suddenly want to become friends again? Don’t you think this is a bit too much?” Jihoon rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in front of him.

“Would you like it better if we keep on fighting? Either come to our next meetup or I won’t take your apology. I don’t care.” Jihoon knew he was totally out of line right now, but he couldn’t help the urge to show Soonyoung that his way of living wasn’t right. And even more he couldn’t suppress the urge to make it up to Soonyoung. The more Soonyoung refused his help, the more he couldn’t give up his idea. He’ll become Soonyoung’s friend again and the other had no saying in that.

“Okay, I’ll go once and then we’ll forget about the past.” Jihoon couldn’t help grinning widely. Soonyoung didn’t know that he wouldn’t get off the hook that easily, but he also had no intention of telling him that right now. If someone would ask Jihoon who was the most stubborn person he ever met then he would answer “Lee Jihoon”. Not many omegas can get into police and also not many people are able to hold a grudge for almost 10 years. No one could beat Jihoon in being stubborn. Jihoon always got what he wanted and right now he wanted to help Soonyoung.

Jihoon kept on staring at Soonyoung who had turned back around to watch the gym. Their conversation seemed to be over for now, so his thoughts drifted back to what they had talked about just now. He tried making sense of their conversation, but there were still some things he didn’t understand. He couldn’t make out in his mind why the situation at university had gotten so out of hand between them. Jihoon now knew Soonyoung’s side of things and he clearly understood it, but he didn’t understand how he could be so angry and blind for so many years. Maybe he should talk with Jeonghan about it, because his friend clearly seemed to know what the problem was.

“Isn’t that the guy?” Jihoon now also looked over to the gym and saw a man standing in front of the building. 

“Yes, that’s him. Who is he waiting for?” Soonyoung didn’t answer him, but Jihoon also didn’t expect an answer. Both of them quietly observed the man waiting there not saying another word. A couple of cars drove by until another figure turned up in front of the gym.

“Oh, it’s a woman.” Jihoon saw how the fitness instructor and the woman first hugged and then kissed. She was a pretty girl with a petite body and long hair that was flowing in waves over her back. After they finished hugging both of them talked for a moment and the woman got something out of her bag and showed it to the man standing in front of her. He looked first surprised and then thrilled. A big smile was spreading on his face. He hugged her again and took the photo out of her hand to look at it.

Soonyoung made a small unhappy noise. “She’s pregnant. He’s not the killer. They look far too happy and he didn’t even really fit the profile with his job.” Jihoon started the engine of the car even before answering and hit the wheel with his fist twice. 

“You’re right. This doesn’t make sense. Even if he would be in a relationship, it would be most probably an unhappy one. The killer just wants to possess a person. He’s not able to really love someone. He only loves himself.” Soonyoung pushed some hair out of his face and leaned his head to the side of the seat. 

“His ego was probably hurt greatly in the past. The cut over the stomach clearly suggests that he has some kind of trauma with pregnancy. So a relationship gone wrong might have been the trigger to his killings. But it’s really all just speculation. The only thing I’m sure of is the fact that the fitness instructor is not the killer.”

Jihoon drove off at last and Soonyoung let out a sigh. “What a waste of time.” Jihoon wanted to agree with the alpha, but suddenly remembered their conversation from earlier. No, not everything had been a waste of time. This evening had been really important for both of them. They were at last able to move past their problems and could maybe get along again after all these years. Soonyoung didn’t seem too happy about the idea of them becoming friends again, but Jihoon would work hard on it.

Now the only problem was that they didn’t have a suspect or lead in the case again and that left Jihoon feel quite sour. They had to start at the very beginning once more and Jihoon wasn’t sure if they could find the killer before he found another victim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! The dynamic between Jihoon and Soonyoung is starting to shift at last and it can only get better from now on. Maybe. Hopefully. Next chapter we’ll be back in Soonyoung’s pov and see how he copes with Jihoon starting to nag about his secluded lifestyle. It’s quite refreshing for me to be back in Soonyoung’s pov again and I especially look forward to write chapter 9 right now :D
> 
> In the night I talked with my awesome beta about writing and it really helped me to see what I’m good at and maybe not so good at. I’m only writing for 3 months now and I’m far away from having a good writing style and talking about things really helped me a lot. Thanks for that <3
> 
> Also thank you a lot for many nice comments and many of you giving kudos to this story. Also for the subscriptions and bookmarks. I see and appreciate it all and it always motivates me a lot to update fast :D I also got a reeeally awesome fanart on Twitter for my story. I’m still moved to tears ;_;
> 
> I’m still not sure if I can actually manage to update on Tuesday again, because I’m quite busy right now and the next chapter will be a long one. But I should be able to update latest at Thursday, I think. Like always you can check out my Twitter for updates if you like @just_a_pinwheel
> 
> Thank you for reading and see you soon <3


	8. Get-together

Soonyoung sat in his apartment and stared at the mostly blank wall. He hadn’t taken many things from his previous flat because his new flat had been already fully furnished. He still hadn’t gotten used to his new home, simply because he had really liked his previous flat. This one was nice too but it just wasn’t the same. The walls were a crisp white and it hurt his eyes. What if he painted the walls in a different color? Soonyoung couldn’t help chuckling at his own thoughts. He probably would never take the time to actually paint the walls. He didn’t even make time for friends or a hobby, so why would he waste his time with painting walls?

He looked at the file in his hand and got the feeling it was silently laughing at him for reading it over and over again. The content would stay the same and he would never find a new lead in it. He closed the file and threw it onto the glass table. They had nothing. The whole week they had talked to people living nearby the victim, went to places he frequented and talked to his relatives and friends. They went through files, documents and electronic devices, but they found nothing. On top of all of this, the forensic team couldn’t find a single foreign fingerprint or anything remotely useful from the evidence.

Soonyoung knew that in cases like this one, they needed to wait for the killer to make a mistake. That meant in return that they had to wait until the killer would find a new victim. They would lose another person, another life. It wasn’t acceptable to Soonyoung. They needed to find the killer before he would murder someone else. He still had no idea how to do that though.

Soonyoung’s stomach started growling loudly. He hadn’t eaten since morning and it was now evening. He really should start taking better care of his health, but it was the last thing on his mind. With the unsolved case hanging over him, it wasn’t possible to think about anything else.

The profiler got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen to search for something to eat. The bright red fridge in the otherwise white and silver kitchen stood there like a warning sign. He really couldn’t understand why someone would choose to buy a bright red fridge, but he tried to accept it because the rest of the kitchen looked nice. He made his way over to the fridge and while he opened its door, he suddenly noticed that his earlier thoughts hadn’t been right. He had thought about something else besides the case and that was Lee Jihoon.

Jihoon’s sudden change of heart was still strange to Soonyoung and he couldn’t help thinking about that from time to time. Was he really another person now compared to university or was it just Jihoon having a guilty conscience because he thought he made him a loner? Soonyoung felt very uncomfortable with Jihoon so stubbornly trying to make him go to one of their meetups. The alpha would have refused him until the end of time if the other didn’t blackmail him with the scenting incident years ago.

Soonyoung let out a sigh and closed the door of the fridge again. He could hear the clock in the living room ticking loudly even here in the kitchen. He needed to get rid of it fast because he was really sensitive to sounds. All alphas and omegas had heightened senses, but Soonyoung had been especially sensitive since the day he presented. In the beginning he had refused to go outside anymore, even to school.

After three days, his father had been fed up with his behavior and told him to get a grip again. His father had straight up told him that he couldn’t behave like this as an alpha. So Soonyoung had gone back to school after that but it had been hard. Eventually he got used to his heightened senses after some months, but that didn’t mean that it never bothered him anymore. Certain colors, sounds and smells still completely ticked him off. The loud ticking of a clock was one of the sounds he really couldn’t stand.

The alpha turned around and went to the cupboard where he had stored a whole stack of instant ramen in. Now the only question was which favor he should choose.

Soonyoung was still considering which kind of instant ramen he should eat when his doorbell rang. He didn’t give anyone besides his work his new address and he also hadn’t ordered something. No one should come here and ring his doorbell.

He went over to the entrance and opened the door without even checking who it was. Saying that it was surprising to see Jihoon in front of him was and understatement. He didn’t expect the other officer to ever come to his apartment. After all he had complained loudly the day Soonyoung had moved into the complex.

“There are no clues to our case right now so we decided to go to a restaurant this evening. We all need a break and get our mind off the case to get new ideas.” Soonyoung knew immediately what Jihoon wanted to tell him, but he chose to ignore it. 

“What does this have to do with me?”

Jihoon gave him an impatient look. “You know why I’m here. Get ready now. I‘ll get you in half an hour and we can walk there together.” Jihoon turned around and left without saying another word. The smaller male really didn’t leave him any choice in this matter.

Soonyoung went over to his bedroom and searched in the wardrobe for something to wear. He decided that a simple black shirt and jeans would do. After he got changed he went back to the living room and sat down on the couch. 20 more minutes to wait until the waste of time would start. He really wished he could just not open the door for Jihoon again, but maybe he shouldn’t upset the other unnecessarily. After all they had to work together.

The ticking of the clock suddenly was even more annoying than before to Soonyoung. He went over, took it off the wall and ripped the batteries out. If he had to go out and deal with people and noises the whole evening, at least his home should be quiet. The silence gave him at last some peace of mind again.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Soonyoung sat awkwardly at a table beside Wonwoo and Vernon. There were so many people at the table and he didn’t even know half of their names. Sure he had seen all of their faces before at work, but he didn’t really know a lot of people working at the police station apart from his own team. Even his knowledge about his own team was very limited.

The restaurant itself was nice. Decorated in warm colors and nice lightning, just a tad too loud for his liking. But on a day with less people it would be very relaxing. Soonyoung just looked in fascination at one of the big paintings of a landscape when Wonwoo’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. 

“I’m glad you and Jihoon made up.” Soonyoung turned to Wonwoo who smiled warmly at him. “It’s easier to work if we are not picking fights constantly.”

“It wasn’t you who picked the fights. I wish Jihoon would have been ready to make up already at university. I have always felt bad about us ending our friendship on bad terms.” Soonyoung looked over at the clock on the wall and saw that only 15 minutes had passed since they arrived. He already felt slightly anxious that he was sitting here leaving the case behind. He wanted to go back home.

“It’s in the past. You don’t have to worry about it. I also have the impression that it was you who made Jihoon talk to me. So you don’t need to feel guilty.” Wonwoo chuckled quietly at Soonyoung’s words. 

“Of course you noticed that. I just gave him a little push in the right direction. Jihoon had been annoying for far too long. He’s a good guy, Soonyoung. If he holds his hand out to you, you should take it.” Soonyoung wanted to ask Wonwoo for what purpose he should take Jihoon’s hand, but kept silent. This whole big group of friends seemed to be really friendly and close, but he didn’t feel like he had a place in it. He felt a bit like a fish that had been alone in a glass bowl for a long time and suddenly was put into a big aquarium full with other fish. He had liked his solitude just fine so how did it turn into this?

“Do you know everyone here? Next to me is my boyfriend Mingyu. He’s part of Seungcheol-hyung’s team. So is Joshua-hyung who is sitting over there, same with Jun and Chan.” While talking, Wonwoo pointed at the people he described and Soonyoung quietly nodded his head trying to remember all the names.

“Next to Jun is Minghao, he’s one of the instructors in the training center. And of course you know Jeonghan-hyung who’s a secretary and also the boyfriend of Seungcheol-hyung. Our newcomer Seungkwan you should know, because you started working on the same day.” Soonyoung looked over at Jeonghan and Seungkwan who were sitting at the far end of the table laughing together about something. Their eyes sparkled mischievously probably making some joke about Seungcheol who was pouting slightly next to his boyfriend. It was curious to Soonyoung how well Seungkwan already got along with everyone even though the omega had arrived on the same day he did.

“Thank you for the introduction.” Wonwoo sighed slightly at Soonyoung’s words. 

“You could at least make an effort to look happy. Talk a bit to Vernon, you need to get to know our team.” Soonyoung clenched his jaw tightly, but Wonwoo didn’t see that because he had already turned around to talk with his boyfriend.

Vernon seemed to be a quiet person so he needed to really make an effort to get the other to talk to him. That’s probably why Wonwoo suggested talking to him in the first place. Wonwoo was just as sly as he remembered him - very nice, but too intelligent for his own good. Soonyoung turned to Vernon and saw how the younger was looking to the far end of the table.

“Why don’t you go over and talk to him?” For Soonyoung it had been painfully obvious how Vernon and Seungkwan were attracted to each other from the very day they met. Because of Soonyoung’s heightened sensitivity to smells, he could pick up the slightest change in pheromones easily, so it was plain obvious to him that the two of them were naturally attracted to each other.

“I don’t know what to say.” Soonyoung couldn’t help smiling at Vernon’s words. The kid really was shy for an alpha, it was quite endearing in Soonyoung’s eyes. 

“Anything is better than sitting here and constantly staring at him.” Vernon’s eyes widened slightly at Soonyoung’s words but otherwise he didn’t show any emotions on his face.

“Am I being that obvious?”

Soonyoung shrugged and looked over to Seungkwan again who was still talking to Jeonghan. “I don’t think he has noticed. Might be just that I’m also an alpha and I pick these things up fast.” A waiter came to their table and started handing out their orders. Soonyoung wasn’t drinking alcohol often, but today he really felt like drinking at least a bit. He grabbed his glass and immediately took a sip.

“It’s strange to have someone else here besides Seungcheol-hyung who notices these things. There are so many betas in our group that we rarely discuss alpha and omega related topics.” Soonyoung felt slightly bad for Vernon. If you are more on the shy side as an alpha, you need some reassurance from other alphas. Seungcheol probably did the best he could, but it wasn’t easy in such a big group of friends.

“Did you ever meet someone who had a strong impact on you?” Soonyoung considered how to answer Vernon’s question, because no, he never had such an experience before. Still he wanted to be at least somehow helpful to the younger. 

“No, I never met an omega to whom I was naturally attracted to. But I know how it is to feel drawn to someone. Attraction is not easy to handle, because you don’t know if it’s enough to actually make something out of it. But in my opinion you should at least try. You have nothing to lose. If you won’t try then you might end up regretting later that you ignored the attraction.” Vernon nodded and kept silent for a while.

“What happened to you and the person you were attracted to?” Soonyoung gave Vernon a tired smile. 

“He didn’t want me.” 

Vernon looked immediately guilty after hearing the answer. He didn’t even need to feel sorry because it had been long ago. It just felt like a fuzzy memory in Soonyoung‘s mind. 

“I’m sorry to hear that, hyung… can I call you hyung?” Soonyoung grinned slightly at the younger. He really was endearing. “Of course you can.”

Meanwhile the table had been filled with food and everyone was starting to eat while talking animatedly. Soonyoung and Vernon fell back into silence, but the profiler didn’t mind it. He quietly ate some of the food and when he grabbed for his glass he saw Jihoon watching him intently. Soonyoung had tried to ignore the smaller one‘s frequent glances since they had arrived, but now he couldn’t escape the other’s eyes anymore.

Jihoon pointed slightly first at Wonwoo and then at Vernon and gave him a questioning look. Soonyoung understood that he wanted to know why he wasn’t talking to anyone. The alpha only shrugged as answer at Jihoon and downed some of his drink. He saw how Jihoon then talked to Seokmin next to him quietly who in return got up immediately and walked over to Soonyoung. 

“Jihoon-hyung said that you should sit beside him.”

Soonyoung felt a slight annoyance flaring up in him but he went over to sit next to Jihoon anyway. He also took his glass with the overly sweet alcoholic drink with him. The drink was a nasty green color and looked pretty much like poison. Just the thing he needed right now.

“You suck at socializing. How have you gotten that awkward? But don’t worry, I’ll teach you.” 

Soonyoung made a sour face at Jihoon’s words. “That seems very strange coming from you. If I remember correctly, then you are the socially awkward person. You don’t need to teach me anything.”

Jihoon laughed loudly and waved the other’s words off. Soonyoung felt an annoyed pang going through him because Jihoon just waved everything he said off like that. “Don’t you see that I have many friends? I’m not socially awkward at all. So, do you still like anime?” Soonyoung grabbed his glass and downed the rest of his drink. He felt a slight buzz from the alcohol in his head and right now he didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing. 

“What kind of random question is that?”

“Just answer with a yes or no.” Soonyoung narrowed his eyes slightly and put the glass he was still holding back on the table. 

“Theoretically yes.” He didn’t want to tell Jihoon that he hadn’t watched any anime in years because he was working 24/7. In school and at the beginning of university he had still greatly enjoyed watching them but at one point he completely gave up on anything that wasn’t related to his studies or later his work.

“Good. I wanted to watch the third season of Attack on Titan already for some time. We can watch it together then. Or have you already watched it?” Soonyoung couldn’t understand Jihoon’s obsession with becoming friends again. He didn’t want the other to invade his private life more than necessary. These times were long gone. He just wanted to sit in the tranquility of his apartment and read some files or a work related book. Watching anime wasn’t high on his priority list of things he wanted and needed to do.

“What is Attack on Titan?” Jihoon’s eyes widened comically and his mouth fell open for a second. 

“What do you even do on your free time, Soonyoung? Don’t you ever do something fun? I’m also obsessed with my work, but from time to time you have to take your mind off work and do something for leisure.”

“I do lots of things on my free time,” Soonyoung lied through clenched teeth. He didn’t really like lying, but sometimes it couldn’t be helped. 

“I don’t believe you at all. How can you not know Attack on Titan? I’m shocked. You are not the Soonyoung I knew. But whatever, we can just start from season one then.” Soonyoung couldn’t help laughing at Jihoon’s words. He couldn’t be serious.

“You want to watch three seasons of anime with me?” Jihoon picked at his food with the chopsticks for a moment and then calmly looked at Soonyoung. “What’s wrong with that?”

“That would take weeks or even months. We are not students anymore and can just binge watch all night.” Jihoon nodded and laid the chopsticks back on the table. He grabbed his drink and took a big gulp and put the glass with a loud thump back on the table. ”So what? Are you planning to only work for a couple of weeks with our team? Have you already applied for a position at the National Intelligence Service?”

Soonyoung looked at Jihoon and tried to understand what the other was thinking right now. He was a good profiler, but Jihoon was difficult to read. Even back when they were students he often couldn’t understand what was going on in the other’s mind. That had been one of the fascinating things about Jihoon at that time, but right now it left Soonyoung feeling tired.

“No, of course not. I wouldn’t apply right after I got a new job.” Jihoon watched him for a while before a brilliant smile suddenly spread over his face. He was still beautiful. Soonyoung would be an idiot to deny that. But he really seemed to have changed. He was a lot more annoying now than he had been at university. Their roles had somehow been reversed, because at university it had been him who was constantly pestering Jihoon.

“Then I’ll go to your apartment on Saturday at 7PM. We can order a pizza or something.” Soonyoung grabbed for his glass but remembered that it was already empty and pulled his hand awkwardly back. He glared at his glass at first and then at Jihoon. 

“You can’t just invite yourself like that.”

“Well, you won’t invite me, so I have to invite myself. I’m bringing the anime and you get something to drink. And you better not dare running away or refuse opening the door. Wonwoo doesn’t call me a pest for nothing. Believe me you don’t want to find out.”

Soonyoung sighed quietly. There really seemed to be no way out of this situation. He had to give into Jihoon’s wish or they would keep on discussing this forever. “Do whatever you want then. You won’t even listen to me either way.” Jihoon suddenly grabbed his chopsticks and started eating again with big appetite. Lee Jihoon had turned into quite a strange guy. One of these days Soonyoung really needed to find out what was going on in Jihoon’s head.

“Don’t worry. You’ll like the anime.” The anime wasn’t what Soonyoung worried about. It was a certain small guy who suddenly refused to leave him alone. Many years ago he would have been thrilled to spend time alone with Jihoon, but right now he dreaded their meeting on Saturday. Jihoon tried to get him out of his comfort zone and he didn’t like it one bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This chapter shows a bit more of what’s going on in Soonyoung’s mind and it’s a bit of a transition into a new part of the story. Next chapter will be Soonhoon only before we’ll go back then to the case and also to the other’s after the next chapter.
> 
> The support I’m getting for this story is tremendous and I want to thank everyone who reads, comments, bookmarks, subscribes and likes this story <3 I didn’t know in the beginning if it would be a good idea to choose an ABO universe but I’m really glad many seem to enjoy it. So thank you really a lot! Like always, you can follow me on Twitter for information on updates and stupid Seventeen rants @just_a_pinweel
> 
> Last but not least thank you to my beta who corrected all my mix ups <3 Next update will be… good question, I don’t know what makes the most sense. Maybe Monday or Tuesday? I also should update Past, Present and Future soon. I don’t want to take forever to finish that because it’s a fairly short story (if you want to call 20.000 words short). But right now my flow with Code Red is good, so we’ll see. Next update will be Code Red either way because I finished the next chapter already. 
> 
> Thaaank you and see you soon <3


	9. Friends?

“Did you meet someone yet?” Soonyoung had heard that question already a hundred times. His father was overly obsessed with him joining the National Intelligence Service while his mother’s only wish was for Soonyoung to mate as soon as possible. She always said that he was working too hard and that he would start living like a normal person when he finally had a mate. In a way, she was right about that. Soonyoung was sure that if he had a mate his priorities in life would shift completely. That’s also the reason why he never really looked for a relationship. First he had to join the National Intelligence Service and get his father off his back.

“No, mum. I already told you countless times that I’m too busy to meet someone.” Soonyoung walked around his living room in circles, the phone in a tight grip in his hand. 

“I went to a yoga class lately and met there a really nice woman. She has a daughter who is the head secretary of a well-known lawyer. She said that her daughter is still looking for a mate. Maybe I can set you two up?” Soonyoung rolled his eyes at his mother’s words. It wasn’t the first time that his mother tried to set him up with someone. Some years back, his father was still strictly against Soonyoung seeing someone so he could concentrate on his work. But as Soonyoung gotten older, his father couldn’t argue against his wife anymore.

His parents had a very big fight two years ago on the topic and Soonyoung’s mother came out as the winner. Normally Soonyoung’s mother was always standing by the opinion of her husband, but she had her mind set on Soonyoung getting a mate before the age of 30. Now that Soonyoung had turned 28, his mother was slowly going insane with worry that her son wouldn’t be able to find a mate and instead slowly work himself to death. Every time she called, she presented him with a new option for a mate - always someone from a wealthy family and with a good job. His mother didn’t care much about whom Soonyoung would take as mate, but his father was for sure not accepting someone inappropriate into the family. That’s why his mother only picked out omegas up to the standard of his father.

“I have no time to meet her. I’m working on an important case right now and I just can’t make time for it.” Soonyoung looked at his phone for a second and saw that it was almost 7PM. He wasn’t lying to his mother, because he really was busy working on the case. But then, Jihoon would ring his doorbell any minute to watch anime with him. It sounded ridiculous just to think about it in his head.

“Soonie, you have to meet someone at one point. You can’t be alone forever.” A growl threatened to make his way out of Soonyoung’s throat but he held it in. It was already bad enough that his father was putting him under constant pressure. He didn’t need to get even more pressure from his mother.

“I will find someone one day, but not now. I’m busy with work.” Soonyoung heard his mother letting out an annoyed huff. 

“You are saying that for years already. I know that you aren’t even looking for someone. You never introduced me to anyone. Did you even really love someone before?” Before Soonyoung could answer the question, the doorbell was ringing loudly.

“Sorry mum, my colleague is coming over. We have to talk about the case.” Soonyoung heard another irritated noise coming from his mother. 

“I think you are lying to me right now, but do whatever you want. I’ll also do whatever I want then and give that girl your phone number. You better be nice to her.” Soonyoung felt a strong anger flaring up in him. 

“You better not do this. I’ll find someone myself, okay? Give me some more time. I really have to hang up now. Love you.” Soonyoung cut the line and immediately went over to open the door.

Jihoon was standing in front of him with messy light brown hair, clad in an oversized white t-shirt and pale blue jeans. His cute look was a stark contrast to the pissed off look on his face. “I thought you wouldn’t open the door. What took you so long?” Before Soonyoung could even answer, the other was weaseling his way into the flat.

“I was on the phone.” Jihoon gave him a look that screamed “I don’t believe you” and went over to sit down on the big black couch in the middle of the living room. 

“Did you eat already or are we ordering pizza? You’ll better say we order pizza because I’m starving.” Soonyoung sighed and sat down beside Jihoon. “Alright, let’s order something.”

Jihoon immediately took his phone out and opened an app to order food. “What kind of pizza do you want?” Soonyoung answered Jihoon without thinking a second about it. 

“Hawaiian.” Jihoon made a disgusted face and let his hand with the phone sink down onto his legs. “That is not a real pizza. Pineapple doesn’t belong on a pizza.”

“Well, you don’t have to eat it.” Jihoon started rotating the phone in his hand seemingly in deep thoughts for a moment. 

“But if you order something else then we could share. Isn’t it better if you are able to eat two different ones?” Soonyoung needed to think for a moment about what Jihoon just said. In his mind it wasn’t something he would ever consider, because he always ordered alone. But it seemed like Jihoon normally ordered with other people together and shared the pizza. Habits are difficult to break.

“Okay, what do you want then?” Jihoon pouted slightly at Soonyoung’s cold voice. “Barbeque chicken and white cheese.” Jihoon lowered his eyes and colored slightly red and it immediately brought out the alpha protectiveness in Soonyoung. There was no way he could refuse the other’s request like this.

Omegas normally knew quite well that they had the ability to manipulate alphas easily. But Jihoon was completely oblivious to his influence – always had been. Even if Jihoon lacked the scent of an omega, sometimes he did these small things that were really endearing and it had melted Soonyoung’s heart already on the very day they met at university. He had been a foolish puppy running after Jihoon for months in the hope the other would notice his feelings one day. The wait had been in vain.

Now they were sitting here many years later and he was still unable to refuse Jihoon when he looked cutely at him. The only difference was that his heart wasn’t fluttering anymore like it did at university. He had given up on these feelings a long time ago. 

“Alright, order them.”

“Really? I mean, if you want something else, then we can still discuss it.” Soonyoung shook his head slightly. “It’s okay, I eat pretty much everything.” There was a small smile on Jihoon’s lips while he was tapping through the app ordering the pizza. The alpha in Soonyoung felt content about it, but his brain told him that the whole situation was plain stupid. He shouldn’t let himself get manipulated that easily by Jihoon anymore.

“What do you like to eat? We can order that next time.” Soonyoung felt like telling Jihoon that there won’t be a next time, but he couldn’t get the words out. “Sushi. But I really just enjoy any food.” Jihoon smiled even wider at Soonyoung’s answer. “Sushi is fine. I like rice, so it’s a great choice… Alright, I ordered the pizza. It should only take them 15 minutes, because the store is right around the corner. Let’s get something to drink then.”

Jihoon got up from the couch and walked into Soonyoung’s kitchen without asking for permission. He opened the fridge and looked curiously inside. “Beer or wine?” Soonyoung had followed the younger officer into the kitchen and leaned against a counter. 

“I don’t care. I rarely drink and don’t really enjoy alcohol.” Jihoon turned around to look at Soonyoung and laughed airily. “Neither do I, but this shit between us is awkward. We both need to loosen up a bit.”

Soonyoung kept quiet for a moment before deciding that he didn’t want to hold back what he was really thinking this time. He narrowed his eyes slightly before speaking up. “We don’t have to do this, Jihoon. I never asked you to come here.” Jihoon took the bottle of white wine out of the fridge and slammed the door shut. 

“I’m already here, so it would be nice if you could stop looking at me like I’m not welcome here.”

Soonyoung got two glasses out of a cupboard and placed them onto the counter and then took the bottle of wine out of Jihoon’s hands and opened it. 

“Well, you aren’t welcome here.” Jihoon made an unhappy noise at the comment and grabbed the glass of wine that Soonyoung had just filled up. 

“Shut up and drink your wine Soonyoung.”

When the alpha came back into the living room, glass in one hand and wine bottle in the other, Jihoon was already busily starting his blu ray player. “Good thing I brought the first two seasons on blu ray. It will look awesome on your big tv. It’s a lot bigger than mine.” Soonyoung put his glass and the bottle of wine onto the table and sat down on the couch. Jihoon had closed the player just in that moment and quickly made his way over to sit down beside Soonyoung. 

“I actually really wanted to rewatch this but I never took the time to do so.” Jihoon fumbled with the remote controls he had found in front of the tv and pushed some buttons until he found the menu of the blu ray.

Soonyoung watched him curiously while sipping on his wine. Jihoon seemed much too comfortable in this awkward situation. Soonyoung didn’t know what to make out of it. “I still don’t understand why you are here Jihoon.” Jihoon stopped in his tracks and turned to Soonyoung. There was an unreadable expression on his face and it made Soonyoung even more curious about what his answer would be.

Jihoon had just opened his mouth when the doorbell rang loudly. Soonyoung cursed under his breath and got up from the couch and opened the door for the delivery service. He paid for the pizza and went back to place the boxes on the glass table. He sat back on the couch and sighed slightly before opening the pizza boxes. 

“Let’s just watch the anime,” he said tiredly, not even wanting to hear Jihoon’s answer anymore. He probably wouldn’t understand it either way.

Jihoon started the anime and both of them grabbed a piece of pizza ate in silence. The pizza was finished fast and the wine bottle was slowly getting empty. The further they got into the anime, the more comments each of them made on what was happening. At the end of episode 5, Soonyoung got up from the couch in frustration and threw his hands into the air. 

“What the hell is going on? How could he get eaten like this??”

Jihoon chuckled at Soonyoung’s exaggerated reaction. “I can promise you that it will only get worse.” Soonyoung gave the smaller one a dark look and sat down again. 

“This is not funny! I can’t watch this anymore! Why are you doing this to me?” Jihoon now laughed loudly and hit Soonyoung on the shoulder. “Don’t be such a baby about it.” Soonyoung took the remote control from Jihoon and stopped the blu ray. 

“I’m serious! I need a break right now.” Soonyoung wanted to give the younger an annoyed look but ended up laughing himself. He had to admit that the anime was really interesting. He couldn’t help enjoying himself.

Jihoon grinned at Soonyoung and grabbed his glass to drink the last bit of his wine. They had finished the whole bottle and Soonyoung felt his head buzzing from the alcohol. 

“Understandable. Let’s take a break.”

Soonyoung watched Jihoon intently. The other’s face was slightly red from the alcohol and his eyes sparkled brightly. No traces of his normal harshness were left on Jihoon’s face and he just looked very happy. It had been a long time since he had laughed with Jihoon like that. Actually he couldn’t remember when he had last laughed with anyone like this. Now that he was slightly drunk it was easy for him to admit that it felt quite good.

“Tell me a secret, Soonyoung. Something no one knows.” Soonyoung cocked his head to the side slightly confused by Jihoon’s request. “Why would I do that?”

“Why are you questioning everything all the time? I’m just trying to do some bonding here.” Jihoon glared cutely at him and Soonyoung felt the need to ruffle his hair but held it in somehow. “Then why don’t you tell me a secret first?” Jihoon shrugged and looked at the empty glass he was still holding in his hand. 

“I actually like pink things. But I would never buy clothes or other things in that color because it’s too much of an omega-thing.” Soonyoung smiled slightly. The younger really was endearingly cute at times. 

“And I like cute things even though I’m an alpha. Cute plushies, cute stationary, cute guys in pink clothes.” Jihoon hit him hardly on the arm, but Soonyoung just laughed about it. 

“You’re an ass. Don’t make fun of me.” Soonyoung was laughing so hard now that it drove tears into his eyes. “I’m not making fun of you. I’m serious. I do like cute things. Is that a problem?”

Jihoon put the glass finally on the table, leaned back on the couch and looked at Soonyoung. “No, it’s not.” They sat there in silence for a while just looking at the other. Soonyoung could see that there was something on Jihoon’s mind he didn’t dare to ask.

“What is it you want to say, Jihoon? Just ask me already.” Jihoon shuffled slightly around. It was interesting that the younger still could be nervous while being drunk. Especially because he had been neither nervous nor awkward the whole evening. The thing on his mind must be a big deal for him.

“Can I hug you for a moment?” 

Soonyoung immediately froze up. He hadn’t expected Jihoon to ask him something like that. Now he wasn’t surprised anymore that Jihoon had hesitated so much to ask him. “I know it’s a strange request, but I… when I’m drunk I always feel the need to hug someone.” Soonyoung felt his heart pounding slightly faster at Jihoon’s words. The younger probably didn’t even understand why he wanted to hug someone while drunk, but to Soonyoung it was clearly Jihoon’s omega biology talking. There was no other explanation for it. And naturally Soonyoung couldn’t refuse him as alpha - especially not in his slightly drunken state of mind. He was just much too soft for Jihoon in this moment.

“Alright, come here.” As soon as Soonyoung had spoken the words Jihoon crawled over to him and sat on his lap and hugged the alpha tightly. Soonyoung didn’t expect the younger to place himself on his lap like this, but it wasn’t unwelcome. Soonyoung hadn’t let any person near him for quite some time and it felt good to hold someone close again.

“Thank you. It had been a while since I could hug someone like this. I used to hug Wonwoo, but since he started dating Mingyu I feel uncomfortable asking.” Soonyoung slowly caressed Jihoons back. He could feel the warmth radiating through the others shirt and it left a tingling in his fingers. 

“Only Wonwoo? What about Seungcheol-hyung? You two seem very close too.”

Jihoon pushed his face into Soonyoung’s neck and a slight shudder went through the alpha at the gesture. Jihoon really didn’t know what he was doing here, did he? The hugging and the slight touch on his neck was clearly omega scenting. It was a lot more subtle than what alphas did but still easy enough to notice. Nothing would come out of this scenting because Jihoon had no scent but the gesture still left Soonyoung slightly intoxicated. Maybe he should tell Jihoon what he was doing here exactly.

“I never did this with hyung. It would have been…” Jihoon stopped talking and Soonyoung noticed how the younger froze up slightly. He knew immediately what that meant and every thought of telling the other about the scenting flew out of the window. 

“You liked him.” Soonyoung felt Jihoon swallowing against his neck. “Just for a short while back at university. He is an alpha so I ignored the crush until it had dissolved. But still it always felt kind of wrong to ask him for something like this even after I was over the crush.”

Soonyoung swallowed down a pang of irritation. It was a bitter pill for him that Jihoon had been interested in an alpha back then, but hated his own advances that much. Soonyoung pushed these thoughts fast out of his mind because it was all in the past and he shouldn’t even think about it.

Jihoon snuggled even closer into Soonyoung’s embrace and made a small content noise. The subtle gesture made Soonyoung smile again. “You’re so cute, Jihoonie… Sorry, I probably shouldn’t call you this.” Jihoon shook his head slightly and his hair tickled against Soonyoung’s neck. 

“No, it’s fine.” Soonyoung couldn’t help putting a hand on top of Jihoon’s head threading his fingers softly through the light brown locks. 

“Will it be still fine when you wake up sober tomorrow?” Jihoon let out a quiet yawn before answering. 

“Yes, because we are friends now.”

“Okay.” They sat there quietly like this until Soonyoung heard Jihoon’s breathing evening out. He had fallen asleep. Soonyoung carefully lifted Jihoon up and laid him down on the couch. He turned the tv off and brought the empty pizza boxes and glasses into the kitchen and then went to fetch a blanket from his bedroom.

When he came back into the living room, Jihoon was lying curled up on his side. His mouth was slightly open and his hair fell messily over his eyes. He looked cute. Jihoon never really looked cute when they were at the police station, so this evening brought a lot of memories of their time at university back - the time he had gotten along with Jihoon. Soonyoung put the blanket over the sleeping officer and watched him for a moment.

Soonyoung had the unsettling feeling that this friendship between them was doomed from the very start. It hadn’t worked for them at university and it probably also wouldn’t work out this time. They weren’t meant to be. Not as lovers and not as friends. They just would end up hurting each other again.

Soonyoung went to his bedroom and closed the door. Jihoon should have never reached his hand out to him again. He was sure this was going to end in a catastrophe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Always when I want to write something cute it turns into something not that cute haha. I first wasn’t satisfied with this chapter at all but after rereading it again it’s maybe okish.
> 
> Next chapter we’ll be back with Jihoon at the police station and some grave decisions will be made. The case has to continue and Jihoon being clueless about too many things has also to continue haha
> 
> Thank you to my beta for correcting <3 And thank you to all of you for reading. I’ve been getting more and more readers and subscribers for this story and I love you all. I’m really happy to get comments of course, because feedback is important as writer, but not everyone has always the time to comment and maybe just doesn’t feel comfortable with commenting so I’m also just happy if you read and like it. Also I’m at over 200 kudos already, which is quite an unbelievable thing for me. Thank you so much <3
> 
> I’ll update most probably on Saturday again. Like always you can follow me on Twitter for updates or you can also drop me a line there @just_a_pinwheel
> 
> See you soon <3


	10. This is my job

Jihoon woke up with a splitting headache. He looked around the room confused and not sure where he was for a moment. The memory of the night before with Soonyoung came slowly flowing back into his mind and he couldn’t help but groan loudly. He said up on the couch and the headache doubled, his vision swimming slightly in front of his eyes. Jihoon hissed in pain and stood up carefully.

He looked at the closed bedroom door across the room and didn’t know what to do for a moment. He wanted to run away and fast, but this wasn’t even a situation where he should feel the need to run away. It’s not like they had a one-night-stand and he never wanted to see the other again. If he really wanted to be friends with Soonyoung then he maybe shouldn’t just run away like a coward.

Jihoon searched for something to write and left a little note for Soonyoung on the table telling him that he had a bad headache and needed to go home to take some painkillers. He added at the end that he had fun yesterday and a thank you for buying the pizza and wine. He didn’t write that he was thankful that Soonyoung covered him up after falling asleep. Some things were better left unsaid.

Jihoon swayed slightly when he made his way quietly out of Soonyoung’s flat and went down the corridor to his own. He walked at once over to the bathroom and got the painkillers out of the cabinet and hastily swallowed one of them down with some water. He really shouldn’t have drank that much.

Jihoon made his way over to his bedroom and closed the blinds. The sun was shining brightly into the room and it would have probably been a nice day to take a walk. But right now the light was just hurting his head. He crawled into bed and closed his eyes. Jihoon tried to push any thoughts invading his head away but he still ended up thinking about the previous evening.

He really was a dumb drunk. How could he have asked Soonyoung to hug him like that? They weren’t even that close and more importantly was the other an alpha. He really shouldn’t have done that.

The pounding in Jihoon’s head made him feel nauseous so he pulled the blanket up over his head and curled himself into a ball. Through the pain and nausea he could feel a thought nagging at the back of his mind. He needed something but he couldn’t place what it was exactly.

Jihoon felt dizziness enveloping him and he fell into a restless slumber before he could make out what his mind wanted to tell him.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Jihoon spent the Sunday mostly in bed, his headache didn’t get better. When he woke up on Monday morning the headache was still there. His mood was unsurprisingly bad when he arrived at the police station. Before going into his office, he went to look for Jeonghan. The omega had luckily arrived before him and greeted him with a smile.

“Jihoonie! How are you doing? Did you have a nice weekend? I was surprised that you didn’t even visit once. That rarely happens.” Jihoon sat down on a chair and closed his eyes. 

“I have an awful headache since yesterday morning. I already took a painkiller after waking up but it’s still not better. Do you maybe could get me another one?” Jeonghan looked worriedly at Jihoon.

“You have these headaches for an awful long time, but you never had them for longer than a couple of hours. That’s really worrisome. You should go to a doctor soon.”

Jihoon had expected Jeonghan to say something like that. It was true that he had these headaches already for a long time, actually for years. In the beginning he only had them twice a year, then every couple of months and recently he had them every second month. Now he had two of them in a timespan of not even two weeks and they were a lot worse than before. Jeonghan had every right to be worried and he should probably be worried too. But there were more pressing matters he had to take care of in the moment so he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.

“The case is important, you know that hyung. I’ll go to the doctor as soon as the case is closed. I promise.” Jeonghan snorted slightly. “Yes, you better go there after the case is finished or I’ll drag you to the doctor myself, with force if needed.” Jihoon knew that the omega wasn’t joking. Jeonghan’s wrath was nothing less than scary, so he never ever tried to go against what his hyung told him.

“Hyung, there is actually another thing I wanted to ask you about.” Jihoon couldn’t get any further with his talk because a smiling Seungkwan was suddenly coming into the room. 

“Good morning you two!” He said in a loud voice and Jihoon cringed slightly in pain. The headache was still just as bad as before.

“Jihoon-hyung, it’s great to see you here. Can I talk to you for a second?” Jihoon blinked a few times in confusion. He didn’t know what the young secretary wanted to talk about at all. He also felt a bit annoyed that he had missed the chance to talk with Jeonghan about his strange behavior at university. He needed to ask his friend what he didn’t tell him before, but that could probably also wait for another day. Seungkwan was laughing so brightly at him that he just couldn’t turn him down.

“Yes, of course we can talk. Hyung can you get me the painkillers in the meantime? That would be really nice.” Jeonghan nodded and gave Jihoon a knowing look. The older one probably wouldn’t be back until Jihoon and Seungkwan had finished their talk.

“What can I help you with?” Seungkwan suddenly got a slightly panicked look on his face when he heard the question and didn’t answer him. 

“Boo Seungkwan! Spit it out right now.” Seungkwan winced at Jihoon’s hard voice and started talking immediately. 

“It’s about Vernon. Did he say anything about me?” Jihoon couldn’t help chuckling slightly. Of course this was about Vernon. He should have known. “What exactly should he have said about you?”

Seungkwan gave Jihoon a fake innocent look. “Oh, I don’t know. Anything would do.” Jihoon smirked at the younger one. 

“He said you make good coffee.”

“Hyung!” Seungkwan puffed out his cheeks slightly in annoyance. “You know what I mean!” 

Jihoon wasn’t an expert in relationships. No one should ask him for guidance because it would really do no good. Still he was standing here considering how to help Seungkwan. He liked Vernon and Seungkwan also seemed like a great guy. He couldn’t just turn a blind eye on their situation.

Still it might have been better if Seungkwan had just asked Jeonghan for help. He was an omega in a relationship and also very helpful in situations like these. But Seungkwan probably chose him because he was working together with Vernon. It made sense in a way, but still he might not be the best choice for such a conversation.

“He didn’t really say a lot. He rarely does. But he seems to be interested.” Seungkwan’s eyes lit up and he clapped loudly once. Jihoon had to admit that happy omegas are quite charming. 

“Really? Then why isn’t he asking me out on a date?” Jihoon wanted to bang his head against the wall even though it wouldn’t have been very helpful with his headache. How could these two think so completely different? Maybe their biology was wrong and they didn’t even make a good match. One of them immediately wanted to go on a date while the other said that it would be stupid to go on a date when they didn’t even really know each other.

“Why don’t _you_ ask him on a date then?” 

Seungkwan made a scandalized face and waved his arms around. “No way I can do that. I know, you don’t care about alpha-omega-dynamics, but I don’t want to ask him on a date as omega. It’s his job! Why do I have to ask him?” Now Jihoon couldn’t help rolling his eyes at Seungkwan’s antics. This was dangerous territory for him. If he wouldn’t be cautious, he would insult the omega for sure. He simply didn’t understand how the minds of alphas and omegas worked.

“You’re right, I don’t understand it. Either you ask him or you don’t complain about Vernon taking some time to ask you.” Seungkwan huffed loudly and went over to his desk and sat down. He didn’t say another word to Jihoon.

“Are you offended now?” Seungkwan turned his head away to look out of the window, still not answering. “Stop acting like a diva and just ask him yourself.” Seungkwan grabbed a file from the table and started reading it with fake interest. It seemed like the younger one wouldn’t listen to Jihoon anymore if he didn’t come up with something else.

“Okay, I’ll talk to him. Happy?” Seungkwan suddenly turned his head around and his eyes were all sparkly again. 

“Really? Thank you so much, hyung! You don’t know how much that means to me.” Jihoon wanted to say that he really didn’t know or understand how much it meant to him, but chose to keep it inside.

Like on cue, Jeonghan came back into the office and gave Jihoon the painkillers. He was pretty sure the other had eavesdropped or his timing wouldn’t have been so on point. It also wouldn’t be the first time Jeonghan have done that. There was a reason the omega always knew what was going on inside the police station. He kept on saying that it’s “part of his job as a secretary”, but in reality he was just overly curious.

“Have a nice day then. I have to start work.” Jihoon waved once and started his way over to his own office. The other three members of his team were all already sitting at their desks busily reading though some papers, only the team leader was nowhere to be found. 

“Morning. Where is Soonyoung?” Seokmin gave him a confused look while Wonwoo started laughing loudly. 

“Morning Jihoon. You went really fast from wanting Soonyoung gone to wanting to see him first thing in the morning.”

Jihoon gave Wonwoo an angry look that made the beta even more amused. “I was just wondering where he was! He’s the team leader after all. Why are we the only one’s doing the work?” Jihoon scolded himself in his mind because he couldn’t come up with a better explanation on the spot. What he said didn’t sound natural at all. The curious thing was that he didn’t even know himself why he had asked about Soonyoung. It had just slipped out of his mouth.

“What should we do now? We went through so many cases that were similar to the two murders of our killer but nothing fits. We have nothing, so only another victim could bring some kind of evidence or a lead. But I rather want it to be an already dead victim than a victim that will die in the future.” The four officers looked helplessly at each other. They had spent the last week looking through countless cases in Seoul and then even in whole Korea. First just by computer and then they got the files to all the cases that could be a match. In the end they still had nothing. No other case fitted their current case.

The silence between them became slowly unbearable. It was a relief to all of them when Soonyoung came into the office and they could finally stop searching for something to talk about. “Good morning. Jihoon, can I talk to you for a second?” Without giving the officer even the chance to answer, Soonyoung walked over to his office. When Jihoon got up from his seat, he saw Wonwoo giving him a sly smile. 

“Stop looking at me like that!” Jihoon complained loudly but he knew that his friend would never stop now. 

“What exactly happened between the two of you? Your behavior is really peculiar.” Jihoon huffed and started walking to Soonyoung’s office. Whatever he said now, Wonwoo would just keep on making fun of him. He didn’t need that on top of his horrible headache. Thinking about his headache reminded immediately of the fact that he still hadn’t taken the painkiller.

“Can I have a glass of water? I need to take a painkiller.” Jihoon said while entering Soonyoung’s office. The alpha nodded and got some water from a side table in his office. 

“Did you get hurt somewhere?” Jihoon watched Soonyoung filling a glass of water and couldn’t help noticing how perfect the other’s hands looked. He had noticed that already at university but he hadn’t thought about it ever again. Jihoon hardly shook his head to get the thoughts out of his mind. “No, I just have a headache. I have these from time to time again. I can deal with it.”

Soonyoung placed the glass in front of Jihoon and sat down on his chair. Jihoon thought that he could see something like worry in the alpha's eyes, but he also could be wrong. 

“Thanks, Soon.” Soonyoung gaped like a fish at him and Jihoon couldn’t help laughing at the comical face Soonyoung made hearing the nickname. “What? I called you that at university too.”

“Yes, but that was at university and…” Soonyoung stopped mid-sentence trying to find the right words. There were many emotions in Soonyoung’s eyes and it wasn’t easy for Jihoon to decipher them. “Fine, call me whatever you like.” Jihoon couldn’t help smirking slightly. The alpha was pushing him less and less away each time and it left him incredibly satisfied. Soonyoung would open up to him fast, he could feel it already.

“There is a reason why I called you here. I have a plan to lure the killer out of his hiding but it’s a bit dangerous. You are the only other crazy person here so I wanted to hear your opinion on it first. Everyone else would just tell me not to do it, but I think I can trust you on giving me an earnest opinion.” Jihoon didn’t know if he should feel honored or insulted. He decided on both. 

“Give it a shot.”

“Alright. We already made it clear that the killer is most probably a pathological narcissist. And I think we could lure him out with reports on the case that would hurt his ego.” In Jihoon’s head were immediately going alarm signals off. He was pretty sure that he knew what Soonyoung wanted to do. 

“But if we publish such a report, he’ll just murder faster someone again. It would be a stress reaction. That’s why we need to give him someone else to channel his anger at.” Jihoon knew it. Soonyoung must have a death wish.

“You’ll let the news use your name in the reports, so he’ll channel his anger at you.” Soonyoung nodded his head. “Thank you, Soon. You just excelled me as most crazy person here in the police station.” Soonyoung made a sour face at Jihoon’s remark. 

“I don’t need your sarcastic comments right now. I just want to know if you think it could work.” Jihoon went through all possibilities in his head, spinning a big scenario. He only answered when he finished thinking everything through. 

“Yes, I think so. But it’s really dangerous. You could die.”

Soonyoung took a paper from his desk and stared a while at it. He sighed and laid it back on the table. “How high is the possibility that we’ll find the killer before he’ll kill another person without me doing this?” Jihoon gulped slightly. He didn’t like what he had to say now. 

“Zero percent.”

“That’s everything I need to know. Thank you. I’ll go to the deputy chief and discuss it with him now.” Soonyoung got up from his chair and walked to the door but Jihoon also sprang up and stopped him. 

“This is insanity Soonyoung!” The alpha gave Jihoon a hard look and pulled his arm out of his grip. 

“No, this is my job.” 

Soonyoung turned around and left Jihoon in his office behind. Jihoon knew that they had a dangerous job and had to risk their lives sometimes, so why did the panic that shot through him, make him unable to move? Why was he so unreasonably scared that Soonyoung wouldn’t make it out of this case alive?

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

The day went by in a flash and Jihoon was just running around headless in the office. Soonyoung had informed the team later of his decision and everyone was shocked when they heard the news. But the deputy chief had given his go and Soonyoung had already sent out the information to the biggest newspapers and tv stations. There was nothing they could do to stop this anymore.

When Jihoon returned to his flat in the evening he walked aimlessly up and down the living room. He couldn’t calm down because his mind was occupied with worrying about Soonyoung. He knew he wouldn’t be able to calm down and sleep like this, so he decided on the spur of the moment to go over to Soonyoung’s apartment and talk with him again.

Jihoon rang the doorbell of Soonyoung’s flat in his distress countless of times until the alpha opened the door. “Why are you ringing my doorbell nonstop? I’m really sensitive to noise so it would be nice if you could never do that again.” Jihoon winced at Soonyoung’s harsh tone and felt at the same time a knot of guilt pulling in his chest. He knew that alphas were especially sensitive to noise but didn’t think about it in his desperation.

“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. Can I come inside for a second?” Soonyoung opened the door further and let Jihoon in. Like a regular guest, he walked immediately over to the couch and sat down. “Why are you here?” Jihoon could hear the annoyance in Soonyoung’s voice and it made him slightly angry. Soonyoung had no right being annoyed after the stunt he pulled today.

Soonyoung sat down beside him and Jihoon suddenly felt like punching the other now that he was so close to him. “I can’t believe you really did that. What will you do now? You made yourself the target of a killer!” Soonyoung shrugged slightly. He looked around the room and when he stopped moving his head, Jihoon followed his line of view. He was looking at a clock that was lying on a side table, batteries beside them. 

“Time will run out for everyone one day.”

“Are you joking with me right now? What the hell is wrong with you?” Jihoon got up from the couch and walked over to where the clock was laying and put the batteries inside again. “Here, your time is running again.” Soonyoung groaned loudly. 

“Take the fucking batteries out. I hate the ticking of that clock.” Jihoon let out a small ‘oh’ and took the batteries out again.

“Jihoon, it’s the only way to get the killer. I know that the chances are still slim, but we might be able to catch him like this. It’s better than waiting for him to kill another person. I was already too slow on my last case and we lost one more person. I don’t want this to happen again.” Jihoon stubbornly shook his head and went back to the couch to stand in front of Soonyoung.

“You have to promise me when something happens that you don’t run off alone but take me with you. You also shouldn’t walk around alone too much. Let’s go at least in the evening home together.” Soonyoung suddenly smiled warmly at him and Jihoon couldn’t remember when the other had looked at him the last time like this.

“Are you worried about me? Don’t be. I’m an alpha, I doubt he’ll try to do the same thing to me as he did to the other victims. I also have a gun.” Jihoon leaned down angrily and grabbed Soonyoung’s shirt to pull him close. 

“But he could still kill you.” Both of them stared quietly at each other. Jihoon could feel Soonyoung’s breathe on his face and a shudder went through his whole body. There was a strange tension between them and Jihoon suddenly couldn’t take it anymore. He quickly let the alpha go and sat down beside him, not looking at the other again.

“Okay, I’ll tell you when something happens and I’ll take you with me. But I’m still the team leader so you’ll have to do what I say. Deal?” A small smile tugged at Jihoon’s lips when he turned around to Soonyoung again. 

“Yeah, deal.”

“Are we done then? I want to get eventually some sleep this night.” Jihoon fumbled with his fingers for a moment. He didn’t want to leave yet, but he couldn’t tell that Soonyoung. Soonyoung seemed to notice it because he leaned over and ruffled Jihoon’s hair messily. 

“Go to bed Jihoon. And don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

Jihoon got up from the couch and walked with slow steps to the door. He still didn’t want to leave but he also had no reason to stay. “Good night then.” Soonyoung had followed him to the door and gave him another smile. It was an amazingly handsome smile and Jihoon didn’t know how to handle it. Soonyoung’s smile did things to him that should be better left ignored. 

“Good night. And thank you for worrying for me.” Soonyoung told him in a calm voice and instead of answering Jihoon hastily opened the door and slammed it shut after him. He didn’t acknowledge that his face felt hotter than normal and that his heart might have just skipped a beat.

He was just worried for his colleague and tired from the constant headache. This was all nothing special at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello :) I’m updating at a quite strange time for me, but I really didn’t feel like updating at 5AM in the morning, so I decided to update before going to bed. This chapter is pretty much a transition again. It has lots of developments that are important for the story but it might feel a bit bland. But I can promise that there will be so much action and drama coming up really soon hahaha. Really soon means starting next chapter lol
> 
> I’m always trying to sneak in some Verkwan in between. They are cute >_< The main focus will always be Soonhoon but I’m trying to give some other characters a bit of space too. There will be still a lot more to explore. 
> 
> Thank you like always for reading, commenting and liking this story. This is really a fun adventure for me. Not only writing the story, but also exchanging comments with you here or on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel). Thank you also like always to my awesome beta reader :D 
> 
> I’ll be off to bed now! Next update will be next week. Maybe Tuesday, maybe another day. Can’t really say for sure. But I’ll let you know on twitter or you’ll know over subscription or you’ll just see it when it’s up here :D See you soon <3


	11. Call of a killer

Jihoon’s headache was finally gone by the next day. He felt refreshed when he woke up and sang loudly while getting ready for work. It was a habit of his whenever he was in a good mood. He started singing random songs he heard on the radio or songs he’d known since childhood. His friends often praised him for his voice but he thought it was nothing special at all. On the contrary, his voice was too high in his opinion. When he was younger, he had always hoped it would get deeper at one point but it never did. In the end it wasn’t something he could change and just learned to live with his high pitched voice. He could still boss around everyone just fine.

Jihoon arrived at the office quite early, made himself a coffee and searched for something to do. While he was reading through a letter that had been left on his table, he saw Soonyoung in the corridor walking to his office. He didn’t have anything important to do right now and the others haven’t arrived yet, so he went over to Soonyoung’s office without much thought. He had to ask Soonyoung if something out of the ordinary had happened after all.

“Morning Soon. Did anything happen?” Soonyoung shook his head. “No, nothing, but I have something for you.” Jihoon looked surprised at Soonyoung. The alpha just smiled at him and got something out of his bag. 

“There is a toy shop beside the coffee shop I always go to and I saw it in the window. It somehow reminded me of you. Take it as a thank you that you were so worried for me yesterday.” Soonyoung pulled his open hand out and there was a small pink and white plush cat on it. Jihoon didn’t look all that enthusiastic. 

“You got me a pink plush cat?” Soonyoung just shrugged defensively. He obviously had expected another reaction from Jihoon. “

It’s cute. But if you don’t want it then I’ll keep it.” Soonyoung started pulling back his arm, but Jihoon immediately grabbed the cat. 

“NO!” Jihoon held the cat close and looked at it. “You got it for me so I might as well keep it.” There was a smile tugging at Jihoon’s lips and an uncomfortable warmth was spreading through his whole body. He looked at the alpha again who was spotting a relaxed expression and a lazy smile.

Maybe, just maybe, Jihoon really liked the present Soonyoung got him. He would never admit that though. But he gladly took it as a sign of their blooming friendship. “Thanks Soon,” Jihoon said in a small voice and watched the warmth in Soonyoung’s eyes growing. 

“No problem Jihoonie.” Jihoon forgot to breathe for a second after hearing the nickname for the first time after their slightly intoxicated evening together. He had thought the other had forgotten that Jihoon told him it was okay to call him like that, or that Soonyoung felt uncomfortable with it.

“Yeah, right..” Jihoon mumbled slightly awkward and turned around. “Inform me if something happens. I have to go somewhere.” Jihoon left the room and walked a couple of steps down the corridor just to lean against a wall there. He actually had no place to go and nothing to do. What a blunt lie.

“What do you have there?” Jihoon jumped slightly and immediately hid the plush cat behind his back when he heard Jeonghan’s voice. 

“Nothing.” He felt his face heating up and cursed his body for being such a traitor. “Don’t try to lie to me. You can’t hide anything from me, Jihoonie.” Jeonghan stepped close to Jihoon and closed his arms around his body trying to get the cat out of Jihoon’s hands.

“Go away, hyung.” Jihoon whined slightly, but it just motivated Jeonghan more. He pinched Jihoon’s hip and the officer let go of the plushie with a yelp. Jeonghan cheered loudly and looked at the small pink cat in his hands.

“Where did you get this and why is it pink?” Jihoon growled lowly at Jeonghan’s words and tried to get the cat back but Jeonghan pushed him away expertly. 

“I swear if you weren’t my hyung, I would punch you right now!” Jeonghan took a step back and looked at his friend curiously.

“I maybe haven’t asked the right question. Who did you get this from?” Jihoon just looked at his friend and didn’t answer. He didn’t want Jeonghan to pry too much into his and Soonyoung’s relationship. At this point, it hardly was something that you could even call a relationship. They were just on the verge of becoming friends. Maybe in a few weeks they really could become good friends.

Jihoon couldn’t help smiling at the thought and Jeonghan looked even more curious at him. “Didn’t you just come out of Soonyoung’s office?” Jihoon gave Jeonghan an angry look. The older one really didn’t know when to shut up. 

“It’s none of your business. Now give it back to me.”

Jeonghan smirked wildly at Jihoon. “Maybe I should go into Soonyoung’s office and ask if he knows what this is.” Jihoon kicked in frustration against the wall. 

“Why do you always need to know everything? This is so annoying. Soonyoung got it for me as a thank you gift. Nothing more. Happy?”

Jeonghan looked taken aback for a second but recovered fast. “Since when are you two so friendly that you give presents to each other?” Jihoon sighed loudly and leaned back against the wall again.

“I’m trying to make up for my past mistakes. I haven’t treated him right, hyung. We were friends at one point and I just want us to go back to that. It’s also much easier to work together if we get along.” Jihoon saw it on Jeonghan’s face that he had lots of questions and he obviously also wasn’t buying his story. It was just the truth though.

“What exactly happened between you two that you get along so well suddenly?” Jihoon went over to Jeonghan and ripped the cat finally out of the older ones grasp. 

“Why is everyone asking me that? Nothing happened. We just talked and watched some anime together. There is nothing much to it.”

“Whatever you say, Jihoonie. Let’s talk about this in detail later.” Jihoon turned around and quickly walked away. He could hear Jeonghan screaming “At least say goodbye to your hyung” but that didn’t stop him. He really wished he wouldn’t have to talk with Jeonghan about the strange relationship between him and Soonyoung. He didn’t even have to say something about it at this point.

When Jihoon arrived back in the office, he hid the cat in one of the drawers of his desk. He let out a relieved sigh when no one else noticed the small gift. Jihoon sat on his chair awkwardly and tried to think of something he could do. Until the killer did something, there wasn’t really anything to do.

Without even realizing, Jihoon opened the drawer again and looked at the small pink cat lying there. Was it really that strange for Soonyoung and him to be close again? Was he maybe burdening Soonyoung too much with trying to become friends? Jihoon’s thoughts suddenly became very complicated and he didn’t know what he was doing anymore. Why had he hated Soonyoung so much and why was he so stubbornly trying to become his friend again? There must be some explanation for his behavior but he couldn’t make it out. Which was plain strange because he should be the one to know best. If he couldn’t understand himself, then another person also won't have answers to his questions.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Just one hour after uselessly sitting in front of his desk, Jihoon saw Soonyoung coming into their office. He was the only one who noticed their team leader, because everyone was busy with reading. He looked curiously at Soonyoung who pointed first at Jihoon and then into the direction of his office. Before leaving, he made a shushing motion and gestured at the rest of the team.

Jihoon considered for a moment what to say to his team members so they wouldn’t get suspicious for a while. “I’ll be back in a moment, I have to make a call,” was what he came up with. He hurried over to Soonyoung’s office who just stood there looking worried. 

“What happened?”

“The killer called me.” Jihoon shuddered at Soonyoung’s words. There was an unsettling feeling in his chest and he was afraid to hear what the killer had said exactly. 

“He just called you? That’s quite daring.” Soonyoung’s face didn’t convey any emotion and it made Jihoon even more worried.

“Yes, he just called. He must be very sure that we don’t know who he is and that we can’t catch him right now. He told me an address and said that I should go there alone.” Jihoon wasn’t happy about the situation. But at least he felt a bit relieved that Soonyoung wasn’t in danger alone right now but instead had kept his promise and called him over.

“What do you want to do now?” Soonyoung hesitated a moment before answering Jihoon, but when he did, he looked very determined. 

“Going there of course. That’s what I’ve aimed for. I need to catch him.”

“You are not planning on going alone, right? That’s too dangerous. You have to take me along. Or even better, take the whole team with you.” Soonyoung suddenly gripped his arm, probably because he noticed the slight panic in Jihoon’s voice. “I can’t take the team with me. He said I should go alone. I can take the risk of taking you with me if that is what you want, but you have to listen to me come what may, is that clear? If I tell you to run, you’ll run and leave me behind.”

Jihoon’s eyes started shaking and his mind was busily trying to figure out if he should agree with Soonyoung’s conditions. He didn’t want to leave the other behind at all costs. That went against his principles as a police officer. But if the other would only take him along under these conditions then he had to agree. He couldn’t let Soonyoung go alone.

“Okay, I’ll do everything you say. But still it will be much too dangerous if we don’t inform the others.” Soonyoung nodded and went over to his desk to pick up his gun. 

“I left a note on my table with the address and an explanation of the situation. It’s best like this because we’ll have a head start then. We don’t know if the killer is watching so we have to be cautious. He needs to believe that I didn’t tell more people.“

“What makes you think that he’s okay with you taking me along?” The alpha gave him a confident smile. “He’s arrogant. He’ll think he can handle two officers.” Jihoon had a bad feeling about the whole situation. He wanted to tell the other team members desperately what was going on, so Soonyoung wouldn‘t need to get himself into danger. Strangely enough it didn’t cross his mind even once that the situation was just as dangerous for himself as it was for Soonyoung. He normally always ran off alone and didn’t worry a lot about the consequences.

“Let’s go Jihoonie.” The smaller one couldn’t help making a sour face. Getting called Jihoonie by Soonyoung made him completely unable to refuse the other and he was quite sure the alpha knew that from his dumb reaction earlier. He was not playing fair.

Jihoon checked the gun in his holster and then hurried after Soonyoung. The others would be so angry when they find Soonyoung’s note.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They arrived after a half-hour long ride at their destination. It was a quiet neighborhood at the border of Seoul and Jihoon was confused why the killer had ordered Soonyoung to come here. They both looked around but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. No cars were driving by and no people could be seen anywhere. There wasn’t a single soul around.

“Isn’t it strangely quiet here?” Jihoon asked Soonyoung while still scanning the surroundings. 

“He must have chosen a really quiet neighborhood on purpose.” Before Jihoon could answer the other, he heard the loud ringing of a phone. He quickly looked around, hand on his gun, but couldn’t see anyone.

“He must have placed a phone somewhere. Let me get it,” Soonyoung said and went over to a small stone wall where the ringing was coming from. He bent down and picked up something lying behind the wall. It was a burner phone and Jihoon was asking himself how fast the mind of the killer must work to come up with such a ploy in this short time. The news reports had only been released yesterday after all.

Soonyoung picked the call up while calmly looking at Jihoon. “Hello…. No, a colleague is with me. He overheard the phone call and I needed to take him along so he wouldn’t alarm any other officers. We didn’t tell anyone else that we came here.” Jihoon couldn’t help being in awe at Soonyoung lying that smoothly to the killer. Not only made the explanation sense but he also didn’t sound nervous at all. Soonyoung was a good officer.

“Okay, we’ll leave our phones here.” Soonyoung placed his phone on the stone wall and looked at Jihoon who just shook his head at him. If they’ll leave their phones here, they couldn’t be tracked. It was too dangerous. 

“Yes, my colleague will also leave his phone here.” Soonyoung nodded at Jihoon and the younger one knew he had no other choice than give his phone up. The killer really had a way to see what they were doing.

Jihoon went over to where Soonyoung was standing and unwillingly laid his phone down onto the stone wall. He looked worriedly at the alpha but the other just started talking into the phone again. “So you’ll just tell me where to go? Understood. Yes, I’ll just listen and won’t talk.” Soonyoung started walking and Jihoon followed along immediately. They walked quietly for 10 minutes and Jihoon began feeling slight nervousness rising up. The murderer could be hidden anywhere and could shoot them without much trouble. This was a very dangerous situation. If they wouldn’t be careful, they would most probably end up dead.

Jihoon kept glancing at Soonyoung when he wasn’t watching the surroundings. Every time their gazes met, the alpha gave him a reassuring smile. It told him: “We’ll find him, he won’t hurt us, we will survive this”. Jihoon smiled back at Soonyoung hoping that his smile would tell him the same things even though he was afraid on the inside.

“How long do we have to walk? …Yes, okay no talking. I get it.” Jihoon really wished he could hear what the killer was saying. The way someone talks, the words he uses, everything can be useful to spin a profile in your head. He was sure that Soonyoung was already busily thinking up one in this very moment. He hated that he could be of no help there at all. The only thing he could do was watch their surroundings.

The 10 minutes they walked turned into one hour and the hour turned into two hours. Their surroundings gradually changed and they were walking along some fields now. They must be outside of Seoul already and it was deeply worrying. Their team had no way to track them and they were in the middle of nowhere.

Jihoon tried to fight the worries he had down but they gradually got worse. He could feel it in every fiber of his body that something bad would happen. He unconsciously grabbed for the sleeve of Soonyoung’s jacket and held onto it. The alpha looked curiously at him for a second but let his gaze drift then immediately back to their surroundings. Jihoon didn’t let go of his sleeve.

Another five minutes later they saw something that looked like a farm coming up in front of them. It was pretty clear to Jihoon that this was their destination. He finally let go of Soonyoung’s sleeve and watched the farm with a narrowed gaze.

The alpha suddenly stopped walking and turned to Jihoon. “He said he’s waiting for us and cut the line.” Jihoon bit his lips in worry and put his hands into the pockets of his trench coat. 

“What do you think about him?”

“He’s clever and educated. He talks like someone who has people working under him, but not like a CEO or someone in a similar high position in a big corporation. Maybe a boss of a smaller company or something like that? Well, that’s not so important right now. The thing is that he’s really sure of himself. He has planned everything out very carefully and we are about to run right into his trap. I can’t really tell what’s about to happen, so I need you to stay alarmed at all times, okay? If the situation gets crazy then you have to get out of there and call help. Is that clear?“

Jihoon gulped and looked into Soonyoung’s eyes. The other had been calm the whole time but now he could see the desperation in his eyes. “We’ll manage. We’ll make it out alive.” Soonyoung took Jihoon by the arms and pulled him close. 

“That is not what I wanted to hear.” 

Jihoon let his gaze drop to the floor to avoid the angry eyes of Soonyoung. “If the situation gets dangerous, I’ll get out of there and get help.” Soonyoung let go of Jihoon’s arms and patted him carefully on the head a few times. 

“Good. Let’s go then.”

The farm looked like there hadn’t been anyone here for quite a while. Everything was worn down and a bit spooky. Thick dust was covering the farming tools and the houses and barns made out of wood were partly destroyed from the weather. Jihoon observed everything carefully but he couldn’t make out any movement. The farm looked abandoned but he knew that this wasn’t completely right. The killer had to be hidden somewhere.

While scanning the farm again a small barn was catching Jihoon’s interest. The door that was left open was made of steel which was a stark contrast to everything else that was made out of wood. “That barn over there seems suspicious.” He pointed at the direction and Soonyoung followed it with his gaze. 

“You’re right. Hold your gun up high.”

They slowly made their way over to the barn and Soonyoung took a deep breath and ripped the door even further open while holding his gun in front of him. Jihoon scanned the rest of the farm in the meantime but there still was no sign of the killer. He turned around finally to also take a look into the barn.

With the light from the outside flooding inside, it was easy to see that the small room was furnished. It looked like someone had stayed there. Jihoon took a step inside and searched for a light switch and found it very fast.

They couldn’t see everything before because the room had no windows but now the room was perfectly lit. Jihoon took another step into the small barn and looked around. There was a couch and a table with a chair. A small shelf was filled with books and CDs. An old fashioned music player was standing on top of it. Another door in the room seemed to lead to a toilet and that was everything there was to discover in the small barn. Jihoon wondered who could live in such a sparsely furnished room.

Jihoon took another step into the room and saw something on the wall that made him feel nauseous. 

“Soonyoung look at this.” The alpha came up to him and looked at what Jihoon just found. There were marks on the wall that a person would make to count days if there were no other means to do that. It must have been at least 200 hundred marks.

“Someone was locked in here.” Just when the words left Soonyoung’s lips Jihoon had a horrible burst of intuition. He knew what was going on here. He sprinted to the door but it fell shut right in front of his eyes. They had walked like idiots right into the trap of the killer. 

They were locked in and no one knew where they were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!! How many of you hate me now for ending the chapter like this? Probably many. Screaming at me for the ending was also the reaction of my beta reader haha. But there is actually more to this chapter than just the cliffhanger. I really like the whole beginning of the chapter. These were things I didn’t plan early but just popped up in my head while going through the chapter in my head before starting to write it. I have the story pretty much planned out till the end, but there are always extra ideas popping.
> 
> So unfortunately I have to say that next chapter we’ll go back to the police station before knowing what is going to happen to Soonhoon. I thought a chapter in another pov would be most fitting right now. Can you guess from whose pov chapter 12 it will be? Anyway, chapter 13 will be then Soonyoung’s pov again :D 
> 
> I think many of you have already a lot of ideas what will happen, but hopefully I can surprise you at least with some things :) 
> 
> Thank you to my beta who read this even though she’s sick <3
> 
> And thank you to everyone reading and enjoying this story. I got some really lovely comments again, which I never can thank you enough for because you take some of your free time to write me and it’s a very precious thing. Also all the kudos and bookmarks and subscriptions T_T Actually I have more subscriptions now on Code Red than I had on Mask Kingdom and it’s pretty much my only wish for this story to do better than my last. I can’t compete with really great authors here, but I can compete with myself :D 
> 
> So I don’t know if I’ll manage to update on Saturday. Latest I’ll try to update next week Tuesday, but maybe I’ll manage to update before that. See you soon <3 As always, you can follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel) for updates and stuff!


	12. MIA

“Hasn’t Jihoon been gone for an awfully long time? It must have been half an hour since he went to make that call.” Vernon looked up from the paper he was reading and turned to Wonwoo. 

“You’re right. It’s a bit strange that hyung has been gone for such a long time just to make a call. He would have told us if he needed to leave for a longer period.” Seokmin got up from his seat and walked towards the door. 

“I’ll go look for him outside the police station!”

Vernon thought back on how Jihoon had excused himself earlier and suddenly got the feeling that something wasn’t right. “I rarely see Jihoon-hyung on the phone. He even says that he hates calling people. Of course sometimes it can’t be helped because of our job, but now that he’s gone for such a long time, I can’t help wondering if he lied to us.” Wonwoo stared at the younger one quietly, a worried expression on his face. 

“It’s strange indeed. Maybe we should also look for Jihoon. Can you go and ask Jeonghan if he knows something? I’ll go and check with Soonyoung.”

Vernon nodded his head and started making his way over to the secretary's office. When he got there, the head secretary was nowhere to be found and only a smiling Seungkwan greeted him. The smell of orange and cinnamon slapped him right in the face and he couldn’t concentrate for a moment. He thought that at one point Seungkwan’s smell wouldn’t affect him like this anymore, but it's still as strong as it was the first day they met.

“Can I help you with something?” The secretary smiled sweetly and got up from his seat and walked up to Vernon. The alpha pondered for a moment about the question, because he totally had forgotten why he came here. It was just so difficult to concentrate with the omega around. He never had had these problems with any omega before. Of course he could smell them and yes many of them smelled nice, but no one smelled as alluring as Seungkwan did. And before he met Seungkwan, he didn’t even know that he could like the smell of oranges and cinnamon that much. It wasn’t even the smell of fresh oranges, but the one of a freshly baked orange cake sprinkled with cinnamon - overly sweet, but still alluring.

“Vernon? Is something wrong?” Seungkwan’s voice shook Vernon out of his stupor and he remembered that he was actually in a hurry to find Jihoon. 

“Yes, sorry. I’m looking for Jihoon-hyung. Have you perhaps seen him?” Seungkwan cocked his head to the side thinking deeply for a second.

“He didn’t come here, but I did see him with Soonyoung-hyung earlier.” Vernon was a bit surprised by the answer. It was peculiar how Jihoon and Soonyoung were hanging around each other so much now. Jihoon had so much hate for their team leader when he arrived and out of the blue he became very friendly with him. He still remembered how shocked everyone was when Jihoon had bought Soonyoung along to their last meetup. It had been the biggest gossip in their group of friends for days to no end.

Wonwoo had told him when they were alone that Jihoon had a bad coincidence for behaving like an idiot, but somehow Vernon had the feeling that there was more to it than a bad coincidence and he couldn’t put a finger on what it was exactly. It would be easier if he could pick up the scent of Jihoon, but the omega never had a scent. And from Soonyoung he couldn’t get anything. The alpha was very good at keeping his emotions under control, so there was no way to pick up his mood. Vernon was quite curious what happened between them, but he wasn’t someone who would pry into the affairs of other people. Maybe one day his hyung would talk himself about what happened between them. Until then he wouldn’t bother him with questions.

“Thank you, Seungkwan. Then I’ll go to Soonyoung’s office.” Seungkwan suddenly got a slightly panicked expression and came a step closer. 

“Wait!” Vernon watched the omega going through some kind of inner turmoil. It was easy to see it on his face but also pick it up in his scent. The secretary seemed to be nervous.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” Seungkwan fidgeted with his fingers, obviously trying to find the right words. “Did Jihoon-hyung tell you something special since yesterday?” Vernon knitted his eyebrows together. He couldn’t remember any important talk between Jihoon and him. What was the omega trying to say? 

“We only talked about work.” Seungkwan’s face fell and his scent gave off a slight disappointment.

“Oh, okay. Then forget it.” Vernon was now quite interested in what was going on. Seungkwan obviously had something to say but chose not to. Did it have something to do with Jihoon? 

“If you know something more about Jihoon-hyung then please tell me. He behaved a bit strangely earlier and he’s gone for already half an hour without an explanation.” Seungkwan made big eyes and winked Vernon’s words off. “I don’t know anything!”

The omegas behavior was just getting more and more suspicious. Vernon couldn’t just walk away like that when the other might know more about Jihoon. Vernon walked even closer to the omega and gave him an encouraging smile. “It’s okay, if you know something about Jihoon-hyung, you can tell me.” Seungkwan just huffed at Vernon’s words and turned his head to the side. 

“I just told you that I don’t know anything.”

Vernon grabbed Seungkwan’s arm and the omegas head shot around immediately in shock. Did the other also feel a shudder going through his whole body or was Vernon the only one having a reaction like that? Touching Seungkwan maybe hadn’t been one of his brightest ideas. Seungkwan’s pheromones really did strange things to his brain. He should get out of here soon or he would make a fool out of himself for sure.

Vernon slowly let go of Seungkwan’s arm before speaking up again. “You are obviously hiding something and I need to know it. Hurry, I really need to find hyung.” The omega suddenly turned around and let out an annoyed loud noise. 

“I talked with hyung about you, okay? This is not about Jihoon-hyung but about you and me.” Vernon was completely dumbfounded by Seungkwan’s words. If he had known, then he wouldn’t have tried to make the omega talk. He wasn’t sure if he even wanted to know what they talked about.

“Sorry…. I misunderstood.” 

Vernon swiped his slightly sweaty hands on his pants off and considered just leaving the office but Seungkwan’s heavy gaze didn’t let him move away from where he stood. “Is that everything you have to say? Do you not want to know what we talked about?”

He didn’t want to know – he was sure of that now. The thought that Seungkwan had talked with his hyung about him was scary in his mind. Even his own thoughts were scary to him lately. He wasn’t in a phase in his life where he searched for a relationship, because he was content with how things were in the moment. He needed time for his work and his friends. There wasn’t any time left for a relationship. But if he would let Seungkwan get close to him, he knew that the omega would turn his whole life upside-down. It could be a great thing, but it also was kind of terrifying to Vernon. He liked having a quiet life.

“That was your private talk. I shouldn’t be prying.” Seungkwan’s scent suddenly changed and it smelt now more like burnt orange cake. Vernon knew immediately that he must have pissed off the omega greatly but he didn’t even know with what exactly he had offended the other.

“Every normal person would ask me now what we talked about!! Is it not interesting at all to you?” Vernon took a step back at Seungkwan’s outburst. 

“Yes, I mean no, I mean yes…” The omega gave him a confused look but his scent turned a bit sweeter again. “Sorry, I’m not very good with words,” Vernon said and the last bit of burnt smell vanished from Seungkwan’s scent.

The omega suddenly burst out into laughter. “Yes, I’ve noticed that already. But don’t worry, I’m good enough with words for the both of us.”

Vernon couldn’t help smiling back at the other. Seungkwan was loud and flashy, but maybe he was just the kind of person he needed in his life. Maybe he was just hiding away in his quiet lifestyle. “So, I said to Jihoon-hyung that he should tell you to ask me out on a date.”

Just when Vernon thought nothing could shock him anymore, Seungkwan came up with that confession. He didn't know what to do with it. Just a short while ago he had told Jihoon that it was still much too early to go on a date. What should he do now?

“But we don’t even really know each other.” Seungkwan rolled his eyes at Vernon’s remark. 

“But isn’t that the point in going on a date? To get to know each other better? Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m saying all of this when I told hyung that I don’t want to be the one to ask you out on a date. He even scolded me to just ask you, but I kept on saying that I can’t do that as omega. What am I doing right now?”

The rambling of Seungkwan was so hilarious to Vernon that he couldn’t help laughing out loud this time. “Are you laughing about me right now? If you don’t stop it right now, I’ll end up being really offended. Stop laughing!!” Vernon just laughed more at Seungkwan’s pouty face and wiped some tears out of his eyes. 

“Sorry, you are just so cute right now.”

Seungkwan colored a deep red and turned his gaze down. “I guess I can forgive you if you put it like that.” When Seungkwan looked up again, Vernon was still smiling at him. 

“Do you want to go on a date with me Boo Seungkwan?” Seungkwan tried obviously to keep a straight face, but after mere seconds a smile broke out on his face.

“I thought you would never ask.” 

Vernon felt warmth flowing through him and maybe Seungkwan really was right and they should just get to know each other better. What’s the point in waiting forever when they already felt so close? Even if his life was comfortable as it is right now, there was always room for improvement. He really should give Seungkwan and also himself the chance to try and see if this is just a mere attraction or if it could turn into something more.

“Let’s talk later about a date and a place, okay? I have to go back and search for Jihoon-hyung. I’m actually in quite a hurry.” Seungkwan nodded and sat back down in front of his desk. 

“Tell me when you found him.” Vernon waved awkwardly goodbye and Seungkwan told him loudly to just go already. Somehow Vernon didn’t feel like leaving right now, but he pulled himself together and turned around. The sweet scent of orange and cinnamon followed him all the way down the corridor and he couldn’t help feeling slightly giddy.

Vernon stopped in front of Soonyoung’s office and looked inside but no one was there, so he walked back to their office. Wonwoo was at Jihoon’s desk going through his drawers when he came back. There was a strange look on his face when he obviously found something, but he didn’t take it out and just pushed the drawer close again. Wonwoo noticed Vernon when the younger officer came closer to their desks.

“Did you talk to Jeonghan?” Vernon shook his head. “No, but I talked to Seungkwan. He said that he saw Jihoon-hyung together with Soonyoung-hyung.” Wonwoo sighed loudly. 

“That is strange. Soonyoung is also not in his office. Where did they go?” Just a second after Wonwoo had said the words, a look of terror formed on his face.

“Those idiots. We have to hurry. Let’s take a look at Soonyoung’s office.” Wonwoo started running and Vernon just followed him without a second thought. On the way to Soonyoung’s office he tried to understand why Wonwoo had been so shocked, but couldn’t come up with an answer that fast. Where did Jihoon and Soonyoung go?

Wonwoo hastily opened the door to Soonyoung’s office and hurried over to his desk. The beta picked up a note lying on the desk. While reading the note, the worry on his face grew considerably. “What does it say?”

“The killer just called me and told me to meet him. I took Jihoon with me. If we still aren’t back when you found this note then please come with back up to this address.” Vernon hissed lowly hearing the content of the note. Soonyoung and Jihoon had gotten themselves into an unnecessarily dangerous situation. They were gone for almost an hour already. Something must have happened to them or they would have contact someone at the police station already.

“Let’s try to call them.” Wonwoo nodded at Vernon’s words and got his phone out and dialed immediately a number. After a minute he took the phone down again. 

“Jihoon is not picking up.”

In that moment Seokmin also came into Soonyoung’s office painting hardly. “I couldn’t find Jihoon-hyung anywhere but from the looks on your faces I can tell that you know more than I do.”

“They went to meet up with the killer.” Seokmin’s mouth fell open hearing the words. “Why didn’t they tell us? I mean, I’m used to Jihoon-hyung doing stupid things but why is Soonyoung-hyung now behaving the same way?”

Wonwoo shrugged and leaned against the wall. “I have my theories why it turned out like this, but the only thing I can say for sure is that they are both idiots.”

“What do we do now? Should we inform the deputy chief?” Seokmin asked but his team members just kept quiet. Wonwoo sighed deeply and made his way out of Soonyoung’s office, the other two following him closely. Now that Soonyoung and Jihoon were gone, Wonwoo naturally picked up the role as the leader of the team.

“We have to inform the deputy chief and then we’ll go immediately to this address. I just hope that nothing bad happened to them.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Wonwoo, Seokmin and Vernon sat in the police car driving to the address that Soonyoung had left behind on his table. Wonwoo was driving a lot faster than allowed but in a situation like this it couldn’t be helped. This was an emergency after all.

All the way, none of them dared to speak up and talk about what might have happened to their two colleagues. The thought that something bad might have happened to them was too scary.

In the quiet of the car Vernon thought back on the first day he met Jihoon. It had been over three years ago when he had just graduated from university and got a job at their police station. It had been his very first day at the police station and right after arriving there, he had bumped into Jihoon who had asked him if he was the new officer.

Vernon always had been a bit shy around strangers even though he was an alpha, so he had been glad that Jihoon had talked to him immediately. The older one had shown him where to go and told him not to be nervous. Vernon had never told that Jihoon, but it had really helped him a lot at that time to calm down. Over the years, Jihoon had often helped Vernon out when he needed someone to talk to. He was really thankful for that. Besides all the private help, Jihoon also had been a big inspiration to Vernon in his job. No one worked as hard and was more determined to catch criminals than Lee Jihoon. There were so many things he respected Jihoon for and so many things he felt thankful for. Still he had never really thanked Jihoon for any of it. He should really do that after they found him.

The car suddenly stopped and Wonwoo sprang out of the car at once. Vernon and Seokmin had trouble keeping up with him.

All three of them looked around their surroundings but there was nothing to see. It was just a normal suburb. Vernon helplessly went down the road searching for some kind of clue and only stopped when Seokmin called loudly that he had found something.

Vernon sprinted over and saw two phones lying on a small stone wall. One of them was Jihoon’s phone, he would recognize that Black Panther case everywhere. Vernon looked at Wonwoo who was spotting a painfully worried expression.

“We have no way to track them. How should we ever find them now?” Seokmin asked loudly. Wonwoo still looked a bit absent-minded and gave no answer. After a minute he looked up and started scanning their surroundings again. 

“There is a surveillance camera over there. We have to go back to the police station and look at the video. Hopefully we can track them while going through the surveillance cameras in the neighborhood. Let’s hurry up. We have no time to lose.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Getting their hands back at the police station onto the surveillance camera video hadn’t been difficult because the police had access to most surveillance cameras. They had watched Soonyoung picking up a burner telephone and then talking on that very phone with someone. He had afterwards laid down his own phone and winked Jihoon over who had done the same then. They had eventually started walking away, Soonyoung still on the phone. It was obvious that Soonyoung had been talking to the killer and that said killer was telling them where to go.

The three of them went through countless of videos from surveillance cameras to slowly track the way they went. It was a lot of work and over 10 hours later they had reconstructed a one hour walk of Jihoon and Soonyoung. The real problems started there. They had walked into a rural area without any cameras. They would need to go there and search for them by foot.

It was now four in the morning and there was no way they could get enough men for the search right now. The deputy chief had told them to wait until morning and then take a large group of men to search for the two missing officers. Wonwoo had gotten really angry talking on the phone to the deputy chief, but in the end he had to accept the decision of his superior. They all knew that it wouldn’t make any sense to start a search when it’s still dark outside, but they were desperate to find Jihoon and Soonyoung. The longer the two of them were gone, the higher the possibility of something happening to them.

After not getting an immediate search approved by the deputy chief, the only thing they could do now was to prepare a plan for the search and wait for daytime to come. In the end a big scale search had to be prepared well, so everything took a lot longer than Wonwoo had anticipated. Vernon had never seen Wonwoo that agitated ever in his life. But he wasn’t the only one who felt this way. Seokmin had given up on smiling long ago and Vernon himself just felt tired and stressed out on top of being worried. The three of them hadn’t slept the whole night and it was slowly getting difficult for their bodies to handle the lack of sleep and stress. But with their friends in danger, they didn’t even think about taking a break.

When the big search squad arrived where they had seen Soonyoung and Jihoon last on a surveillance camera, almost 20 hours had gone by since they last saw Jihoon. There was no way to tell if their colleagues and friends were still alive after so many hours gone by. This was by far the most horrible mission they ever went on - a mission where they might find their friends dead.

Vernon looked over at Wonwoo who calmly instructed the different groups of officers where to go to. Under his calm demeanor, Vernon could see the terror in Wonwoo’s eyes. All of them were worried but Wonwoo knew Jihoon the longest and best and it must have been unbelievably stressful to him. Still the beta tried to stay calm for the sake of the mission, for the sake of finding Jihoon and Soonyoung.

“Let’s go everyone! The mission is clear.” Wonwoo screamed and went over to where Vernon and Seokmin and another three police officers were waiting for him. “We should also hurry,” he told them but Vernon didn’t move away from where he was standing. 

“Do you think we can still find them alive, hyung?” Wonwoo took a deep breath and gave Vernon a reassuring look.

“Yes, I believe we can still find them alive. Now let’s go. We really shouldn’t waste more time.” Vernon couldn’t detect a lie in Wonwoo’s words, so he pushed his worries away and started walking.

They could and they would find them alive. Without believing in that, their mission would be doomed to fail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! How did you like the chapter? I was actually quite worried if it would fit into the story if I go out of POV, but after finishing the chapter I felt quite content with it. Also my beta said that it was nice to read which always makes me feel better about things. Thank you :D So, hopefully the chapter was enjoyable. I don’t plan on switching out of Soonhoon’s POV a lot though. Maybe five chapters altogether? I think it’s just nice to get some more background information on some side characters. But I won’t start focusing now on other characters or relationships, in the end this is still a Soonhoon story. But yeah, tell me what you think about it.
> 
> Next chapter we’ll be back with Jihoon and Soonyoung and it’s obvious from this chapter that time is slowly running out for them. It will get interesting. Maybe. I can’t tell :D
> 
> I probably will update only once next week because I’m quite busy right now, but there will be one update for sure! Don’t know when exactly though. Maybe more towards the end of the week. Like always I’ll write on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel) when I decided the day I’ll update. So you can add me there :)
> 
> Thank you for reading, commenting, subscribing, bookmarking aaand giving kudos to this story. It’s just really lots of fun lately with this story and all of you reading and commenting and liking. Really thank you so much <3 See you soon!


	13. Locked in

Jihoon was banging his fists against the door made out of steel like a mad person. He screamed in wild rage but the door wouldn’t budge. Soonyoung walked up to him and pulled him back, but Jihoon just struggled against the hold. 

“You’re hurting yourself. Stop it.” Jihoon tried to get out of Soonyoung’s grip with everything he had but Soonyoung had him in a perfect grip from the back and all struggling was in vain.

“We have to get out of here. Let me go! Let me the fuck go!!” Soonyoung pressed himself even closer to Jihoon and pulled him in a back-hug-like position. He knew he needed to calm the other down somehow or Jihoon would really end up hurting himself.

“Calm down. We’ll get out of here. They’ll find us.” Soonyoung expected Jihoon to calm down a bit now but to his surprise he did the opposite. Jihoon elbowed Soonyoung hard into the gut and the alpha released him as reflex.

Jihoon turned around and looked at Soonyoung who was spotting a pained expression holding onto his hurting stomach. “The fuck they will! We are in the middle of nowhere! They can’t find us here!” Soonyoung coughed and then straightened himself again. He didn’t know what to do with the younger one, he seemed completely out of his mind.

“Jihoon, they will find us. I left the note with our starting location and they can look at the surveillance cameras videos up to the point where we left for the landside. We only walked one hour after that. They’ll probably need some time, but it’s not impossible to find us. The whole police station will search for us.” Jihoon took a couple of steps back until he hit the wall. He was shaking hard and it worried Soonyoung a lot. Something was not right. Jihoon was a police officer, he shouldn’t react so out of control in such a situation.

“It will be too late then,” the younger mumbled. Soonyoung could only make out the quietly spoken words because his hearing was exceptionally good. 

“People don’t die this fast.” Jihoon didn’t react to Soonyoung’s words and just breathed heavily. Soonyoung felt like it would be better to give Jihoon some space and sat down on the couch, but never leaving the other out of his sight.

Jihoon just stood there shivering and breathing heavily. Even after five minutes the officer still hadn’t calmed down and Soonyoung was starting to get seriously worried. “What is wrong Jihoonie?” Soonyoung watched the younger one lifting up his gaze slightly to look at him. There was nothing else than terror in his eyes.

“My suppressants… I took one this morning and I left them behind at the police station. If I don’t take one in 40 hours, they’ll lose their effect.” Soonyoung felt stupid for not thinking about that. Jihoon’s behavior had been strange from the very start, so he should have known that he wasn’t just afraid of no one finding them. For Jihoon, dying was probably less scary than living without the suppressants.

“40 hours are a long time. It’s very possible that they’ll find us before that.” Jihoon shook his head in defeat. It looked like he had given up already. 

“I always have the tablets with me, but I left them behind today. I’m so stupid.” Soonyoung felt a pang of guilt at Jihoon’s revelation. It was him who made Jihoon leave in a hurry. It was at least partly his fault that the officer hadn’t the suppressants with him.

“I’m sorry Jihoonie. It was me who made you leave in a hurry. You didn’t take them with you because of my bad decisions.” Jihoon shook even harder his head now. 

“No, it’s just my fault. I normally always carry them on my body, but I forgot to take one at home and took it at work. I was absent-minded this morning and just threw them without thinking into a drawer of my desk instead of putting them back into the pocket of my pants.” Even after Jihoon’s explanation, the guilt didn’t leave Soonyoung. It was still him who got them into this situation. He had calculated wrongly.

“It’s still my fault we are locked in now. I should have noticed earlier what the plan of the killer was. I have failed as team leader and profiler.” Jihoon slowly slid down the wall and sat down on the floor. He pulled up his legs and hid away his face. “I’m afraid, Soonyoung. I’m so afraid.”

Soonyoung watched the younger one losing slowly any hope and it broke his heart. He wanted to help Jihoon somehow but he didn’t know how to do it. Nothing he said could soothe Jihoon right now.

Jihoon wasn’t moving in his position at all and only his irregular breathing could be heard. Even though he looked like he calmed down a bit, Soonyoung heard just from the way the other breathed that he wasn’t fine at all. There was only one thing he could offer Jihoon and the other officer would probably feel very offended when he did that. But sometimes it’s necessary to take a risk if you want to help.

“Come here Jihoonie. I’ll give you a hug.” Jihoon’s head shot up at once hearing Soonyoung’s offer. The officer stared in shock at his team leader, his eyes bigger than Soonyoung had ever seen them. 

“Are you crazy? I won’t let you hug me.” 

Soonyoung chuckled lightly. He knew Jihoon would react like that. “You are craving it when you are drunk, so it’s probably something you are craving right now too. You are just too proud to admit it. But pride has no place in a situation like this. You need to calm down. You are close to a mental break down, Jihoonie.”

Soonyoung expected the younger to get even angrier at his words and deny everything. He didn’t expect Jihoon to watch him for a bit and then stand up and come over to him without saying another word. Soonyoung opened his arms and Jihoon crawled onto his lap the same way he had done when they had watched anime together.

The alpha closed his arms tightly around the small body and noticed that he was still shaking. “Don’t worry Jihoonie. They’ll find us in time. Everything will be okay.” Jihoon just started shaking more and Soonyoung heard the other sniffing slightly. He considered his choices what to do with the younger one at this point, because nothing seemed to help him. There was one thing that might calm the other down, but he didn’t know if he would cross a line with it. He had already crossed the line many years ago when he had scented the other. He didn’t want to do such a mistake again.

“Jihoonie, can I do something to help you calm down? I don’t know how else to help you…” Jihoon didn’t answer but nodded his head against Soonyoung’s neck.

Soonyoung took a deep breath and carefully touched the spot on Jihoon’s neck where his scent gland was hidden under the skin. When the younger one didn’t flinch away he started rubbing with two fingers circles over it. Jihoon let out a small moan at the touch and melted boneless against the alpha, finally not shaking anymore.

Soonyoung pushed any inappropriate thoughts out of his mind feeling Jihoon melting so compliant against his body. This was just to help Jihoon calm down.

“There you go. You’re much more relaxed now. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.” Jihoon snuggled closer and laid his head onto Soonyoung’s shoulder. 

“I’m so afraid.” Jihoon said in a small voice. Soonyoung patted him lightly on the back while still rubbing small circles onto his neck. 

“Don’t be. You’re not alone.”

They didn’t talk anymore after that and eventually Jihoon fell asleep at one point. Soonyoung laid him onto the couch and put Jihoon’s head onto his legs. The alpha threaded through the smaller ones hair carefully. “What should I do with you?” He whispered into the silence of the room. “If they don’t find us in time, nothing will ever be the same again.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Soonyoung had sat on the couch for hours just staring at the peaceful sleeping face of Jihoon resting on his lap. He had just gotten really bored when the younger one turned from his side onto his back and slowly opened his eyes. 

“How long was I asleep?” Jihoon mumbled lowly and let out a small yawn. He blinked a few times to wake up more when something startled him suddenly. He tried to get up from Soonyoung’s lap but the alpha just pushed him down again. 

“Four hours. Keep on lying there. We have nothing better to do either way.”

“But the position must be horrible for you. Your legs must hurt.” Soonyoung laughed quietly at Jihoon’s worry. Hurting legs really weren’t a big deal in a situation like this. 

“No, it’s okay.” Jihoon closed his eyes again for a moment and wiggled around a bit to find a more comfortable position.

“What did you do to me earlier?” Soonyoung froze up slightly. He knew that the chances the other wouldn’t ask this question were slim, but he still had hoped that he could get away without an explanation. He wasn’t sure how Jihoon would react when he heard what Soonyoung had done. “I touched you where your scent gland is. It’s the point where an alpha bites down for a mating mark. For omegas it’s highly pleasurable to get touched there and I kind of hoped it would calm you down. You take the suppressants so I was quite sure it wouldn’t have a great effect on you, at most a calming one. And I was right.”

Jihoon didn’t answer him so Soonyoung spoke up again. “Are you angry with me?” Jihoon bit his lip in concentration and answered only a while later. 

“No, I… no. I was really out of my mind earlier. If it wouldn’t have been for you, I would have probably had a panic attack.” Soonyoung felt the tension leaving his body hearing Jihoon’s words. Luckily he had worried for nothing.

“Why do you think the killer locked us in here? He could have killed us.” Soonyoung had a lot of time in the last hours to think about what was going on in the killer’s mind and he was pretty sure Jihoon had an idea too. 

“Well, why do you think he did it, Jihoonie?” Jihoon thought a long time before he answered the alpha. “This is a game for him. He just wants to show us that he is cleverer than we are. He wants to feel superior and he probably wants the police to watch how he’ll kill more people.” Soonyoung sighted tiredly. This was exactly what he thought too. The killer was just playing with them.

“I think so too. He is angry with me but probably can’t get any satisfaction when killing me because I don’t fit his type. But showing that he is cleverer than the police is giving him probably an incredible ego boost.” Jihoon looked worriedly at Soonyoung and the alpha already knew what the other wanted to ask him. 

“Do you think he’ll kill someone while we are locked in here?”

“I thought about that for a long time, but I’m still not sure.” They both fell into an uncomfortable silence afterwards. Soonyoung tried to find something to talk about but Jihoon beat him to it. 

“Tell me something about you.” Soonyoung laughed at Jihoon’s words. “Why do you always want to know things about me? What should I even tell you? You already know many things about me.”

“We have nothing else to do than talk. Tell me something about your childhood. Did you always want to become a police officer?” Soonyoung thought about refusing to talk about that topic. He didn’t particularly like talking about his childhood and his family. It was difficult to explain it to other people.

“Yes and no. My father always told me to become a police officer and I naturally got interested in it. But at one point, during my high school days, I really didn’t feel like becoming a police officer anymore. It was tiring having to listen to my father rant about my upcoming studies at university and how I had to join the National Service fast almost every day. I didn’t dislike the thought of becoming a police officer but I was just so tired of everything. That’s when I started thinking about where I could imagine myself in the future. But in the end, I didn’t even have a choice. My father flipped out when I told him that I considered studying something else and screamed at me for hours. I have never said another word about another career path since then.”

Jihoon looked at him with pity in his eyes and Soonyoung hated that look. He always got it when he talked with people about this topic and that was exactly the reason why he stopped talking about it. “Don’t look at me with these pitiful eyes. I’m fine. I like my job and I don’t regret taking this route in life.” Jihoon’s eyes softened slightly and Soonyoung couldn’t help threading his fingers through the smaller ones hair again. Jihoon didn’t complain. 

“What did you want to be?”

“I wanted to study to become a doctor. A pediatrician to be exact.” Soonyoung thought for a moment about where he would be right now if his father would have allowed him to study medicine. Would he have been happier right now? Soonyoung couldn’t find an answer on that question.

“You like children?” Soonyoung nodded, a small smile on his lips. 

“I do.” Jihoon hummed at Soonyoung’s words and turned onto his side hiding his face in Soonyoung’s shirt. 

“You would have been a great pediatrician. If you didn't have to go this tiring way your father forced onto you, then you would be still the happy and goofy Soonyoung I met at university. The children would have loved you.” Soonyoung patted Jihoon’s head slightly. Warmth spread through his body that he hadn’t felt in a long time. It was the warmth you experience when someone cares for you. He really had forgotten how it was to have someone caring about you.

“I still don’t really understand how you became like this, Soon. You are so different from university.” Soonyoung pushed some of Jihoon’s hair behind his hair and laughed airily. 

“Am I boring now?” Jihoon turned around onto his back again, a playful glint in his eyes. “Yes.” Soonyoung pouted slightly and Jihoon hit the alpha onto the arm for it. 

“No, you’re a warm and gentle person. But sometimes I miss your goofy idiocy from university.” Soonyoung gave him a sly smirk while answering. 

“But you hated me for the most part of university.” Jihoon hit him again on the arm, this time a lot harder. “Shut up! Why do you have to bring this up all the time? We were talking about something completely different!”

Soonyoung chuckled seeing Jihoon so angry. There were two situations where Jihoon was especially cute - when he was either really angry or really embarrassed. Soonyoung had always liked aggravating Jihoon at university, but even more he had liked to make him embarrassed. 

“So what do you want me to do to be more like my old self again? Should I start calling you marshmallow again? Or shortcake? Bit-size? Cute face? Angel eyes? Sugar fairy?” Jihoon now shot up from Soonyoung’s lap a hard look in his eyes, but a cute blush on his face. 

“Kwon Soonyoung! I’ll fucking wring your neck! All these pet names were horrible. I had nightmares from them.” Soonyoung laughed loudly at Jihoon’s annoyance. Jihoon had really hated all these pet names but still Soonyoung had come up with new one’s all the time.

He really had been so whipped for Jihoon. He still didn’t know how the other had never noticed. It must have been painfully obvious to everyone but Jihoon. Soonyoung stopped laughing at last and rubbed his arm where Jihoon had hit him before. A question went through his head that he had wanted to ask Jihoon already at university but never had dared to. Maybe now was the time for it.

“Did you ever think about not taking the suppressants anymore?” Jihoon looked surprised at Soonyoung, but there wasn’t any anger in his eyes. Soonyoung had expected the other to be really angry at him for asking that, so it was a welcome surprise that the officer seemed to be okay with answering that question. 

“No, never. Many people asked me that before. Everyone wonders why I don’t want to live with my original biology, if I don’t want to know what it is like. But the thing is that I never lived as omega once in my life. I’m not missing or want to experience it simply because I know nothing about it. I’m leading a happy life and I don’t want anything to change.”

Soonyoung felt the need to tell Jihoon that he was actually quite omega-like in many aspects, but he knew that Jihoon would just deny it. If Jihoon was happy like this, then he also had no right to question his decision.

“Come on lay down again. Let’s sleep some more until the others will find us.” Jihoon made a sour face but laid back down on Soonyoung’s lap. 

“They still have 35 more hours to get us out of here. Wonwoo better hurry up or I’ll never forgive him. He should be intelligent enough to find us in even half of the time.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jihoon slept for a few more hours and then they talked for hours after that. They mostly talked about the case, about past cases, about the job as police officer and profiler. When they felt done exhausting each topic, they just slept again. Well, Jihoon did. Soonyoung never allowed himself to actually fall asleep. Someone had to stay awake in case the killer would come back.

5 hours became 10 hours, and 10 hours became 20 hours. Soonyoung’s stomach was growling loudly, there wasn’t anything to eat or drink here, but it was okay. They would survive.

Soon 20 hours turned into 30 hours and Jihoon started to become restless again. Time was slowly running out and the panic over the others not being able to find them in time started to rise in him once more. Soonyoung tried his best to calm him down in any way and talked to the smaller one about any topic he could think of. The animes they watched years ago or why Jihoon thought Black Panther was the best Marvel movie ever done. Jihoon could thankfully talk about that topic for a very long time.

At one point Jihoon was so tired of walking agitatedly up and down the room that he lay down on the couch and went back to sleep. The smaller one kept on turning around on Soonyoung’s lap, probably not dreaming well. Even when he caressed the smaller ones hair, it had no effect. Soonyoung tried all the while to keep his thoughts busy but he couldn’t help looking at his watch regularly. Only five more hours left. He really thought the others would have found them by now.

Soonyoung closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. His eyes flew open immediately again. There was a faint sweet smell in the air and he knew it meant trouble. The scent was so faint that he almost couldn’t make it out and he was quite sure not a lot of other people would have been able to pick it up, but his senses were sensitive enough to do it.

He started caressing Jihoon’s hair again and concentrated on the scent. It was a little floral and fruity, but too faint to make out what the smell exactly was. The more Soonyoung inhaled the scent, the more he knew that there was no way he was wrong about it. He could feel the alpha in him getting a lot more restless, telling him to do something to get out of here - if necessary to open the door with his bare bands. The rational part of his brain knew that this wasn’t even possible but that didn’t hinder the alpha in him urging him on to get the omega out of here as soon as possible.

They still had five more hours left. The suppressants should still work, so why could he already smell pheromones coming from Jihoon? Soonyoung considered for a moment waking Jihoon up and telling him about it. But he was too afraid that the smaller one would get a panic attack so he just let him sleep. Now, even Soonyoung felt panic rising in him like a thunderstorm. He wasn’t sure what would happen if the suppressants lost all their effect and he didn’t even want to think about it.

Lucky for Soonyoung his senses picked up something else when he was just starting to get seriously stressed out. There was something or someone outside, he could clearly hear it. Soonyoung immediately started shaking Jihoon awake. 

“Jihoonie, someone is outside.”

Jihoon sprang up at once and staggered still sleep drunken to the door. “Get us the fuck out of here!!” He screamed loudly and Soonyoung felt like telling him to lower his voice a bit, but that really wasn’t the situation for such a comment. So he rather got up from the couch himself and walked over to where Jihoon standing while still banging like a madman against the door. When Soonyoung was close enough, he could smell the sweet scent again.

“Jihoon, is that you?” Wonwoo’s muted voice was heard through the door and Soonyoung let out a sigh of relief. 

“Who else should it be? Open the fucking door RIGHT NOW!” They could hear how something was moved in front of the door and while waiting Jihoon grabbed for Soonyoung’s wristwatch. 

“Still five hours left. They made it in time.” Jihoon gave Soonyoung a brilliant smile, but Soonyoung didn’t feel like celebrating at all.

The door opened at last and Jihoon immediately stormed outside. “What took you so long?” Wonwoo, Seokmin, Vernon and a handful of other officers were standing outside their guns but also flashlights held high up, because it was pitch dark outside. When the officers saw that Jihoon and Soonyoung were the only ones coming out of the barn, they slowly took their guns down. Wonwoo immediately grabbed Jihoon by the arm and gave him a hard look. 

“Is that the right thing to say after we just freed you? You two run off like idiots and got yourself in unnecessary danger. You didn’t even really inform us about any of this! Do you know how difficult it was to find you two? The deputy chief is furious. He’s especially angry of Soonyoung because he’s the team leader. You are both crazy! You are really lucky that you are still alive.” Jihoon’s eyes were wide and the shock was obvious on his face. Soonyoung was pretty sure that Jihoon had never been screamed at by Wonwoo ever before in his life. Still the smaller officer recovered quickly. 

“Yes, okay we were reckless and we’ll pay the price for it later. But first of all I need my suppressants. There is not a lot of time left!”

Wonwoo sighed loudly and got something out of the pocket of his pants. “Here, I found them in your drawer while searching for a clue where you could be. I thought you might need them as soon as possible.” Jihoon immediately ripped the tablets out of Wonwoo’s hand and opened the packing with shaky fingers. As soon as he got one out he swallowed it down without even bothering to ask for water. Only then he thanked his friend for bringing the suppressants with him, his expression now more relaxed than it ever had been for the entire duration in the barn.

“We should go back for now. It must have been a difficult time for you two. We’ll send a forensic science team here in the morning so they can scan for something useful. Some men will also stay behind and wait in case the killer comes back.” Soonyoung and his team went over to the car and got in quickly. Neither Jihoon nor Soonyoung were in any condition to drive, so Wonwoo sat down in the driver’s seat. The beta rubbed his eyes and Soonyoung started feeling quite guilty because it was obvious that everyone had stayed up the entire time searching for them. Wonwoo must be very tried too but he still didn’t complain that he had to drive.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the car for a while, but you could always count on Seokmin to not bother with things like that. “So what happened? Did you see the killer?” He looked back at the two officers sitting beside each other in the backseat together with Vernon.

“No, he locked us in there and we never saw him. But Soonyoung heard his voice on the phone. We’ll find him for sure now, he must have left behind some clues on the farm.” There was an unhappy sound coming from Wonwoo hearing what Jihoon said. 

“We’ll better get something out of your reckless stunt or the deputy chief will never be calm again. When he allowed Soonyoung to let the reports be published, he didn’t want you two to run off like this and I quote “I knew that Jihoon is crazy, but I didn’t expect Soonyoung to be just as crazy as him”.” Seokmin laughed loudly hearing this but noticed after a second that it wasn’t really something he should laugh about and mumbled a “sorry”.

Soonyoung just sat quietly in the backseat and watched Jihoon who was sitting beside him. The scent he picked up in the barn earlier wasn’t there anymore. It seemed like their team had been in time after all. Still there was an itching feeling under his skin that just didn’t want to go away. Hopefully it was only a side effect of being tired and hungry. Soonyoung closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window of the car.

For the first time in the last 35 hours, he allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This chapter is might be my favorite up to now. Did you enjoy it? And did many of you expect them to not get out of there in time? It would have been a possibility but with no way to get out of there, the whole thing would have turned kind of noncon and I don’t want my story to be noncon. Consent is important, you can’t just say everything is okay in ABO because of the biology. At least I feel like that.
> 
> This of course doesn’t mean that things won’t get complicated from now on, because I am a cruel person and I need to fill many many chapters. So expect a lot of drama lol
> 
> In other news, I think the last chapter was highly unpopular so I really try to write only a couple of times from another point of view. I have three more planned through the whole story and probably won’t add more than that.
> 
> The next update will be only next week because I have to do some time management now. I’ll be on holidays for 3 weeks from the 26th on and I’m planning to keep on updating once a week. That’s why I have to prewrite some chapters now and have to hold back on updating twice a week. I might be able to write also in my holidays and then I can update more but I’ll only know that later.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for always reading my new updates really fast and providing her thoughts <3
> 
> And thank you to all of you for reading and commenting and leaving kudos. I always say this but I really mean it so I need to say this over and over again!! See you then next week <3
> 
> Follow me for information on updates on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel)


	14. Blank Mind

Soonyoung woke up before the alarm went off. It wasn’t something unusual to him, but after all the stress he has been through the previous days, he expected to not wake up that easily.

He got up and walked into the kitchen when a strange feeling creeped up on him. He couldn’t really put a finger on what bothered him so he got himself a glass of water and downed it quickly. He was still really tired and out of his mind, his brain barely functioning.

Soonyoung got ready for work very slowly and just when he wanted to walk out of the door, it finally hit him: he was worried about Jihoon. Everything seemed fine when he dropped him off by his door but the question of his scent appearing was still unanswered. Soonyoung felt the need of least checking in on the younger officer and see if he’s doing alright.

Soonyoung stood for a long time behind his front door contemplating what to tell Jihoon. He felt kind of awkward going to Jihoon’s flat first thing in the morning but he just couldn’t shake the heavy worry off. Waiting until he saw the other at work wasn’t an option in his mind, so he just shut all unnecessary emotions out and left his flat.

Soonyoung walked the short distance down the corridor and rang the bell to Jihoon’s flat. When no one opened the door even after five minutes of waiting, he started banging loudly against the door. 

Jihoon finally opened the door after another two minutes and Soonyoung knew immediately that something was wrong. He let himself in and looked worriedly at the other. He had seen Jihoon take a suppressant the evening before and the scent he noticed when they were locked in had completely vanished after that. Now the scent was back and a lot stronger than the first time. 

Soonyoung could now clearly make out that it was a gentle scent of peonies with a sweet layer of raspberry. It was like a very pretty perfume, sweet but not sickly sweet with a bit of freshness in it. The scent was quite addicting and difficult to ignore, the lovely mixture was filling up all of Soonyoung’s senses and it made him sway slightly. The problem was that the sweetness of the pheromones was keeping on getting stronger and it made it quite difficult to breathe. 

“Are you okay, Jihoonie?” Jihoon swayed slightly taking a step closer to Soonyoung. He was shaking badly, almost not able to hold himself upright. 

“My head hurts so much,” he said in a pained voice while staring at the floor. Soonyoung immediately got closer to him and held onto his arms to steady the younger. 

“I’ll bring you to the hospital. Come on, hurry.”

As soon as Soonyoung touched Jihoon, the shaking stopped completely and the pheromones flared up. Jihoon didn’t move for a while, but when he finally looked up, his eyes were blown wide and almost completely black. Soonyoung could now see close up the slight sheen of sweat on the others face and his smell just kept on getting stronger. He was in big trouble.

“Alpha.” Jihoons voice came out in an uncharacteristic whimper and it went through Soonyoung like a shock. The other was going into heat and was completely feral, he probably didn’t even recognize him anymore. He could see it in his eyes. 

“Jihoonie, listen to me. You have to hold onto consciousness for a while okay? I… shit, I…”

Jihoons pheromones were getting stronger by second and Soonyoung felt his mind getting hazy. He had to hold back and take care of Jihoon. He couldn’t leave him alone like this, but at the same time he also couldn’t take advantage of him, Jihoon wouldn’t want that.

Jihoon came closer to Soonyoung and looked up at him. “Don’t you want me, alpha?” _Fuck._ He couldn’t deal with it. Refusing an omega in heat was very difficult for an alpha, especially if the omega obviously wanted the alpha. How should he hold on like this?

Jihoon started to shake slightly, the distress was obvious in his posture. Soonyoung knew that he reacted like this, because he felt his refusal. Getting refused from the alpha you want was painful for an omega in heat. He needed to calm the smaller one down somehow. 

“No, no, Jihoonie. It’s not like this, okay? Don’t worry. We just need to get you some help.”

Soonyoung could see how tears were slowly filling up Jihoons eyes and it broke his heart. “Please, it hurts so much.” Soonyoung took a step back and he immediately saw how much more distressed the omega got. 

“Why don’t you want me alpha? Am I not good enough?” The alpha in Soonyoung was screaming at him to take care of the other, but his mind was busily trying to hold on. He couldn’t take advantage of Jihoon, he really shouldn’t.

“I.. I’ll call Jeonghan. He can help you.” Soonyoung pulled his phone out of his pants but Jihoon put a hand on his arm holding the phone for a moment, before pulling it back immediately. An omega normally waited for the alpha to make the first move. Touching him like this was out of place and the omega probably noticed that too.

“Alpha, please.” Jihoon whined quietly and when the alpha still didn’t react, he slowly sank down on his knees and bared his neck. It was the ultimate sign of submission and Soonyoung felt his dick throb in his pants. Seeing Jihoon like this on his knees, begging, baring his neck to him drove him crazy. The need to mate and breed the other was overwhelming. Jihoon’s scent kept on getting sweeter and it was completely clouding his mind. But he couldn’t give into his needs, not like this.

He shook his head hardly and dialed Jeonghan’s number with shaky hands. After just two rings, the other picked up. “You.. you have to come to Jihoon's flat. He’s in heat and I can’t… I can’t…” He heard Jeonghan say that he’ll be there in a minute and tried to slip the phone back into his pocket, but he was shaking so much now that he just barely managed to do this simple task. His breathing became slowly faster and it was so difficult to hold onto consciousness. The only thing he could think about was giving Jihoon what he wanted. Anything he wanted.

When the doorbell rang, Jihoon looked up at him again with lust filled eyes. “Please take me. Make me yours alpha,” the omega said in the most alluring tone Soonyoung had ever heard and he just couldn’t move anymore. The alpha inside kept on telling him to not let anyone inside, but instead go over to Jihoon, rip his clothes off and give him exactly what he wanted. Just when he took a step towards Jihoon, he remembered the incident years ago where he had scented the other. Jihoon didn’t want this, he didn’t want him and probably would never forgive him if he spent his heat with him. Jihoon didn’t even know who he was right now. None of this was right.

Soonyoung finally turned around and while he went over to the door, he heard a loud sob coming from Jihoon. It was almost impossible for him to bear it. He wanted the omega so much at this point that his whole body was shaking uncontrollably. The want went through him in waves and left him breathless.

He opened the door and Jeonghan immediately stormed inside. “So the pills didn’t work anymore after all? Oh shit, Jihoonie?” Jihoon was growling lowly sitting on the ground. His eyes were narrowed while he looked at Jeonghan. 

“Hey Jihoonie, don’t worry.” Jeonghan sank slowly onto his knees and pushed his shirt out of the way to show his mating mark. The younger omega should normally pick up on Jeonghan’s scent that he’s mated but he was probably too far gone for that. “I’m no danger for you, okay? I won’t take your alpha away.” Jihoons body and expression relaxed immediately after he saw the mating mark, just to tense up seconds later again. 

“Why doesn’t my alpha want me?”

Soonyoung took another step back. The words felt like a punch in the gut and it was impossible to hold on anymore at this point. He was moments away from snapping. Jeonghan immediately sensed that and turned around and screamed at Soonyoung. 

“GO NOW! You both don’t want this. GO!” Soonyoung hit with his back against the door and looked at Jihoon who was still kneeling on the floor, tears now streaming freely from his eyes. The sob that left the omega made him sound completely broken.

“Please don’t leave me. I’ll be good, I promise. Please, please, please…” Soonyoung took his last bit of willpower and turned around and walked out of the door. When the door closed behind Soonyoung, his head cleared a bit because he couldn’t smell Jihoons pheromones anymore, but the shrill scream coming from inside the room still broke his heart. It was a scream of an omega who was left alone by his alpha. Soonyoung felt sick to the core, but he still started walking back to his flat. After opening the door with shaky hands, he immediately went into the shower and turned the cold water on. He stepped inside with all his clothes on and sank down on the floor just sitting there under the cold water.

He couldn’t stop thinking about Jihoon. He wanted to go back to his apartment and help him in the most basic and animalistic way he knew. The need was so strong that he could almost taste it on his tongue. He crawled at the floor and shouted loudly, not even sure what exactly he was shouting. He felt so horrible for leaving the other alone that he felt like vomiting. He was a useless alpha. Useless.

Soonyoung sat almost one hour under the cold shower until he calmed down a bit again. He turned the water off and carelessly discarded all his clothes and took a towel to dry off. The only thought on his mind was to get out of here. He hurried into his bedroom and grabbed some clean clothes, got dressed and ran out of his flat, hair still dripping wet.

He drove like in trance to work and parked his car somewhere close to the police station, probably in a no parking zone. He stumbled out of the car and hurried to his office. On his way there he didn’t bother to greet his team members. He just wanted to lock himself away.

Soonyoung threw the door of his office close with a bang and started searching in panic for something to do. He needed to get his mind off what happened earlier or he would go insane. When he grabbed some papers, he saw how much his hands were shaking. He was not okay. He was slowly going insane and he could do nothing about it.

The door to his office suddenly opened again and Seungcheol came into his office. “Are you crazy? You can‘t come to work like this. Your pheromones are completely out of control! You can probably smell them over the entire police station.“

Soonyoung let the papers fall onto the desk again and sat down in his chair. “I couldn’t stay at home“ Soonyoung said quietly and Seungcheol’s eyes softened immediately.

“Jeonghan called me earlier so I know what’s going on. He’s taking care of Jihoon so you don’t have to worry about anything. Jeonghan is also an omega, so he knows how to deal with the situation.” Soonyoung had a blank look on his face listening to Seungcheol’s talk. It was good that Jeonghan was with Jihoon, but that fact wasn’t enough to make him feel better right now.

“Soonyoung what you did was exceptional. Not many alphas would have been able to hold back like that. Jihoon will be really thankful when he’s back to his senses. I’m also really thankful, so is Hannie.“ Seungcheol walked over to where Soonyoung was sitting and put a hand reassuringly on his shoulder. 

“I left him alone hyung. He was crying and screaming and I left him alone. I can’t think about anything else. I just feel so horrible.”

Seungcheol looked worried at the other alpha who had his gaze lowered staring empty at the floor. “Soonyoung I know it’s difficult for you right now. Getting exposed to so many pheromones of an omega in heat is not something you can just shrug off. But it will get better soon. Already tomorrow it will be much easier.“

“But I can’t go home hyung! I can’t be there when Jihoonie is... you know what I mean. I can’t go there. I CAN’T!“ Soonyoung had looked up at Seungcheol again breathing harshly in distress. Just mentioning Jihoon already drove him more towards insanity.

“I‘ll ask Wonwoo, okay? You can stay with him and Mingyu for sure. I would offer to let you stay at my flat but it’s not really of any help because we live in the same complex.“ Soonyoung forced himself to smile at Seungcheol, even if it was weak. 

“Thank you hyung.“

Seungcheol waved Soonyoung to get up from his chair and hugged the other alpha immediately when he was standing. “Thank you Soonyoung. Jihoon will probably be very agitated when he comes back to his senses but if you would have spent his heat with him... it would have destroyed him. None of this was his choice and in a feral state of mind, he also couldn’t make a clear headed decision.”

“I know. That’s why I held back even when he begged me not to leave.“ Soonyoung knew that Seungcheol was completely right and Jihoon would probably thank him later for what he did. But with the hollowing emptiness inside him, Seungcheol’s words couldn’t make him feel better. Jihoon’s eyes when he left him behind tormented him. His voice begging him to stay was constantly ringing in his head. He just wanted to be at Jihoon’s side right now. He needed it but he knew he had to stay away. For Jihoon’s sake but also for his own. It was just the alpha in him going crazy. When some time went by and the alpha in him had calmed down again, he would be really glad to not have touched Jihoon.

Seungcheol still looked worriedly at Soonyoung and the profiler couldn’t even blame him. He must look nothing like an alpha right now but just like a confused child. “Soonyoung, don’t come to work tomorrow. I’ll talk to the deputy chief. Take a day off and go outside. Best would be to take Wonwoo with you. I’ll sort everything out and when you come back in two days, you’ll be as good as new.“

Soonyoung hoped that Seungcheol was right. He wouldn’t be able to bear feeling like this for a long time. It would kill him.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Soonyoung sat in Wonoo’s car and looked with void eyes out of the window. The two of them hadn’t talked since Wonwoo had come to his office and told him to get going. The alpha still felt restless and sad.

“Are you okay Soonyoung?” Wonwoo asked finally and Soonyoung didn’t even have the strength and will to answer, but he knew it would be rude to just keep quiet. 

“No. But I’ll be eventually.”

“Seungcheol-hyung said that Jihoon was in heat when you found him.” Soonyoung really wished that Wonwoo wouldn’t talk about that. It was already difficult enough as it was, he didn’t need to talk about it on top of that. 

“Yes,” he answered shortly and let his head fall against the window. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe slowly in and out.

“But he took his suppressant in time, didn’t he? Why did it turn out like that?” Soonyoung wondered why Wonwoo couldn’t get the hint that he didn’t want to talk about Jihoon. He normally was a very perceptive person and easily picked up what people were thinking. He must be ignoring Soonyoung’s feelings for the sake of getting to know more about Jihoon’s situation. Soonyoung couldn’t even feel angry about that because Wonwoo was Jihoon’s best friend after all.

“When we were locked in, I could already slightly smell pheromones on him, but when he took the suppressant, the scent was gone again. I thought he would be fine but he obviously wasn’t. It must have been too late after all. I really don’t know why. Maybe because he took the suppressants every day and his body couldn’t handle waiting 48 hours.” Soonyoung’s thoughts became slowly darker and darker. The feeling of having failed as an alpha was back so strong that he felt like being strangled. Wonwoo must have noticed Soonyoung’s distress now too because he loudly cleared his throat.

“We probably shouldn’t talk about what happened. Sorry, I don’t really understand what you are going through since I’m a beta.” Soonyoung slowly lifted his head away from the window of the car and looked at Wonwoo. 

“Don’t be sorry for that. Being an alpha, beta or omega is not something we can choose. It’s just what we got and we have to deal with it.”

Wonwoo waited a moment before he spoke up again. “Do you hate being an alpha right now?” Soonyoung sighed and thought about the question for a long time. 

“No, I don’t. It’s my biology. Why should I hate who I am? Of course my biology doesn’t define who I am but it’s nevertheless a part of me. I’ll feel shitty for a while, but I know I did the right thing today. Like I said, my biology is part of me but at the same time I won’t let it control me completely. That is not right.”

Wonwoo parked the car in front of a big building and then turned around to look at Soonyoung. There was a gentle smile on his lips. “You’re a good person Soonyoung. And even if you don’t want to hear it right now, especially not from a beta who understands nothing, I still want to thank you. Seungcheol-hyung said that you called Jeonghan to help Jihoon and then left him alone. Even though I’m a beta, I know how difficult that is for an alpha.”

Soonyoung shuddered slightly and turned his head to the side. “You know Wonwoo, I spent heats with omegas before, but today was completely different - maybe because it’s Jihoon’s first heat. His pheromones were too strong. I can still smell them, feel them fuzzing up my brain. It’s horrible. I was just seconds away from snapping when Jihoon stood in front of me. That never happened to me before. I’m normally pretty good at controlling my actions.” The longer Soonyoung thought about it, the stranger his behavior seemed to be. He needed to think about it again when his head had cleared up more.

Soonyoung sighed again and Wonwoo patted him lightly on the shoulder. “Let’s go inside and not talk about that anymore. We can order some food and watch a movie.” Wonwoo did a lousy job in keeping his mind off Jihoon. Ordering food and watching a movie just reminded him again of the younger officer. Of course Wonwoo didn’t know that, so he shouldn’t blame the beta for it.

“Can we maybe do something else?” Wonwoo looked slightly confused at him when he started getting out of the car. Soonyoung followed him and they slowly made their way to the tall building in front of them. "How about we play some games?” Wonwoo asked the other finally and Soonyoung felt a lot less distressed with that option.

“I suck at playing games, but it will do I guess.” Wonwoo laughed at Soonyoung’s words and opened the door to the building. 

“I hate losing either way. It’s good when you suck at playing games. More fun for me.”

Now even Soonyoung escaped a small laugh. Maybe he really would feel better soon. He just needed to be away from home and do some things to get his mind off Jihoon. He would be back to his old self in no time.

Wonwoo went inside and held the door open for Soonyoung. The alpha hesitated entering the building for a while. In the end he turned around and looked at the sky. The blue sky had always been a sight that calmed him down but today it didn’t give him any comfort. Besides his own troubles he went through, there was something else nagging at the back of his mind that he didn’t pay full attention to because he had been so out of it. Now he clearly knew what it was.

He would be okay in a couple of days again but the same thing couldn’t be said for Jihoon. Jihoon’s whole life as he knew it would change now. Soonyoung felt his own distress melt away and it got replaced by another strong emotion - worry. He was worried that Jihoon wouldn’t be able to cope with the situation.

When Soonyoung turned around and went into the building finally, there was only one thought left in his mind: Jihoon hopefully wouldn’t do something stupid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) The wait till posting this chapter seemed so long!! Probably because I really wanted to upload this chapter. It’s a real turning point in the story, because things will now become complicated. They were already complicated before but now the whole ABO component will start playing a bigger role in the story and it will get even more complicated.
> 
> At one point it had to come down to Jihoon’s suppressants not working anymore. Why it happened will be explained in detail later. It’s difficult with ABO to find a way to not let the characters behave like wild animals but still have a somehow classic ABO. I guess every author has to find their own way of writing ABO. Hopefully I can be content with what I wrote in the end, because this really is only the start of everything. But it was still a really important chapter. That Soonyoung walks away from Jihoon was important for me the same way as showing that the alpha-omega dynamic can be really difficult at times. But like I said, this is only the beginning and it will probably only get really clear where I’m going with this in future chapters. I think I’m talking too much lol. Either way, I hope this chapter was interesting to read!
> 
> Thank you to my beta who is so awesome that she talks with me at 2AM about what the scent of certain persons should be like <3
> 
> Also thank you for reading, commenting and liking this story! I’m at over 100 subscriptions now and you are all crazy and I love you <3 I really got so many nice comments again. Thank you T_T <3
> 
> I’ll update most probably next Tuesday again. I’ll fly to Japan on Sunday to watch Seventeen so I prewrote enough chapters to update while being on holidays :D If I’ll manage to write some stuff in my holidays too than I might update more than once a week again! 
> 
> Thank you so much and see you soon <3 You can follow me on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel) for updates on my writing or if you are interested in my Seventeen stories from Japan or for whatever reason :D


	15. The Good in the Bad

Soonyoung and Wonwoo sat on the big and comfortable couch in the middle of Wonwoo and Mingyu’s flat for hours and played more games than a person should play in one day. To Wonwoo’s great amusement, Soonyoung really sucked at playing every single game.

Neither of them noticed when the front door opened and Mingyu entered. “Babe, I’m home!” Soonyoung turned his head around to look at the door and his character in the game got shot down again. When he noticed his repetitive failure, he groaned loudly. 

“Let’s take a break. This game is annoying.”

Wonwoo just grinned amusedly and now also turned around to his boyfriend who slowly made his way over to the couch. “Did you game the whole day? How is that fair when I had to work?” Mingyu whined and plopped besides Wonwoo onto the couch.

“Don’t you have an important busking soon? You must be busy with work.” Mingyu leaned onto Wonwoo’ shoulder and sighed. 

“Don’t remind me. We have been nothing but busy for weeks. I’m home now, so I don’t want to talk about work.”

Soonyoung looked curiously at the exchange of the couple and Wonwoo was sure that he must be confused why Mingyu hadn’t said anything about his situation at all. Wonwoo had sent his boyfriend earlier a long message explaining the situation and telling him to refrain from asking Soonyoung any question. Wonwoo knew that his team leader needed to get his mind off Jihoon. He had looked close to insanity earlier and he really didn’t want to witness Soonyoung losing his mind completely.

Since Soonyoung had been back in their lives, he had been nothing else but calm and collected. Seeing him so distressed was a bit difficult to handle for Wonwoo. Yes, he knew Soonyoung for a long time but they only had been close during a very short time. That’s why he wasn’t feeling all that comfortable with unconditionally comforting the other. Still Wonwoo saw this as a chance to get to know the alpha better again. They didn’t have a lot of time to really talk since Soonyoung arrived after all. The case came crashing down on them and Soonyoung was also busily running away from making friends. Now he couldn’t run away, so this bad situation might have one positive aspect too.

“Did you order Chinese earlier? Why can’t you clean up?” Wonwoo and Soonyoung both looked at Mingyu who had an annoyed look on his face while looking at all the empty boxes on the table. 

“You have to know Soonyoung, Mingyu is obsessed with cleaning.” Mingyu sprung up angrily from the couch. 

“I’m not obsessed with cleaning! You just never clean! If I wouldn’t be the one cleaning all the time, we would live in a dirty cave.” While saying that, Mingyu started collecting all the packages of the Chinese food and put them into a trash bag.

“See, he is obsessed with cleaning.” Soonyoung laughed along with Wonwoo and even Mingyu had to chuckle lightly, knowing that his boyfriend’s words were completely right. 

“You must have eaten some hours ago. Do you want me to cook something?“ Soonyoung immediately wanted to speak up but Wonwoo beat him to it.

“Don’t refuse Mingyu’s food. You will miss out on something great.” Soonyoung looked slightly confused by Wonwoo‘s remark for a second. "Okay, I guess I can‘t refuse then.“ 

Mingyu smiled widely and left with a happy step for the kitchen. "You won‘t regret it!“ He screamed loudly and Wonoo and Soonyoung both chuckled at the same time.

"Mingyu is a great cook and a neat freak.“ Soonyoung looked impressed and Wonwoo felt a bit proud as his boyfriend. "But he’s clumsy. He always breaks things. It’s kind of annoying sometimes.“

"Nobody is perfect... So how did you two start dating?“ Wonwoo took one of the cushions of the couch into his hands and started breaking the feathers inside. It was a strange habit of him. Wherever he went and the cushions had feathers inside, he would start breaking them. 

"It’s not an interesting story.“

Soonyoung had a gentle smile on lips while watching Wonwoo. "Every love story is interesting. And actually the simple stories are the best.“ Wonwoo cleared his throat and sat a bit more upright. He didn’t even really know how to tell this story. Most of his friends watched what happened with their own eyes so he barely had talked about how he started dating Mingyu.

"Gyu started a year after me at the police station. I was in my second year and still worked as a patrolling officer. New officers get often paired up with a second years, because the older officers don’t want to get dragged down by the rookies. I ended up being a pair with Gyu.“ Wonwoo made a pause and thought back to when he first got paired with Mingyu. Mingyu and him were like fire and water. Mingyu always talked before thinking and Wonwoo did the exact opposite. In the beginning Mingyu had been plain annoying to him.

“We were on patrol one day where we ran into an armed assault and Mingyu almost ended up getting shot, but I pulled him out of the fire line. From that day on Mingyu got kind of obsessed with me and didn’t leave me alone anymore. He pestered me to go on a date with him but I kept on refusing him… until I was so tired of his constant asking that I decided to just go once to shut him up. It was clear to me that Mingyu would notice that we didn’t match each other and would stop bothering me afterwards.” Soonyoung listened intently while Wonwoo was talking, all the while a small smile on his lips. Wonwoo couldn’t help feeling happy about it. The other seemed a lot more relaxed now.

“Strangely enough, it was me who noticed that I had been wrong all along. We are indeed different in many aspects but we also have many similar interests. We sat together in a small coffee shop talking for hours about the things we liked and it never got boring for a second. I immediately knew that I wouldn’t be able to let him go.” Wonwoo laughed sheepishly before continuing. 

“We went on more dates and at one point it was already like we were in a relationship. Everyone believed we were dating even though we had never even talked about that. So we naturally ended up dating and moved in together quite fast. People say that betas are too dumb to know fast that they are in love but Mingyu and I were very soon completely sure about it. I guess we are just a good match.”

Soonyoung hummed lowly, his eyes radiating gentle warmth. “You were very lucky, or better said you are very lucky.” Wonwoo nodded his head looking over to the kitchen. 

“Yes, I am very lucky.”

Soonyoung grabbed his glass from the table and drank some water before speaking again. "Why aren‘t you two on the same team?“ It was a reasonable question but Wonwoo still couldn’t help laughing about it. "We decided it’s for the better if we are on different teams. It’s already difficult sometimes just to have my best friend on the same team. You end up making irrational choices.“

Soonyoung hesitated speaking for a moment. It looked like something was bothering him. "It must have been difficult for you when Jihoon and I just ran off without telling you. I shouldn’t have dragged Jihoon into it, but he was so stubborn about it...“ Wonwoo laid the cushion back to the side and straightened out his shirt with his hands. He was surprised the other was picking up that topic right now. It was a good chance for him to ask also something that had been on his mind.

"When I found Jihoon’s suppressants in his drawer, I also saw a plush cat lying inside. He got that from you, right?“ Soonyoung shuffled around slightly nervous on the couch but his face remained stoic. 

„That’s right. How do you know?“

"None of our friends at the police station would ever dare to buy him a pink plush cat.“ Soonyoung nodded but didn’t comment further on it. 

„Do you still like him Soonyoung?“

The question took Soonyoung obviously off guard. He pressed his lips into a thin line and turned his head away from Wonwoo for a moment. "You knew that I liked Jihoon at university?“ Wonwoo rolled his eyes at the alphas question.“ I needed to be blind to not know. Jihoon probably knew it deep down too but he chose to ignore it because you‘re an alpha.“

There were many emotions running through Soonyoung’s eyes and he suddenly wasn’t sure anymore if this was the right time to talk with the alpha about Jihoon. He had just calmed down a bit and this topic might just agitate him again. But in the end this talk already came so far and Wonwoo really wanted to know what was going on between the two of them. „So do you still like him or not?“

The emotions left Soonyoung’s eyes and he gazed calmly at Wonwoo. "No, I don’t. I didn’t even want to be friends with him but he just wouldn‘t give up. When I told him that I wanted to make me a target for the killer, he was genuinely worried about me and no one has really worried about me for quite a while. That’s why I thought it would be nice to give Jihoon a small gift. It’s nothing more than that.“

Wonwoo wasn’t sure if he should believe what Soonyoung just told him, but the other seemed to be genuine so he decided not to question him further on it. “Let’s have a look at what Mingyu is cooking. I’m always a bit scared he’ll burn down the kitchen one day.” Both of them stood up from the couch while laughing loudly. From the corner of his eyes, Wonwoo saw that Soonyoung’s gaze didn’t match the laughter at all. He couldn’t pinpoint if it was still the after effect of Jihoon’s heat or if it was because of the talk they just had. But even if he would ask Soonyoung now, he probably wouldn’t get an answer from the other.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Wonwoo rolled around in bed not really able to settle down. The events of the day had been more upsetting for him than he had initially thought. 

“You’re worrying about Jihoon-hyung, right?” Wonwoo rolled over and looked at Mingyu who smiled at him knowingly. 

“Yes, I would like to help him somehow, but I can’t. Jeonghan-hyung is with him so he should be fine, but I still can’t help worrying about him.”

Wonwoo wasn’t only worried about Jihoon’s current situation, what worried him even more was what would happen after his heat. Wonwoo had been at Jihoon’s side for almost 10 years and the thing the smaller one hated the most in the world was the thought of living as an omega. Strangely enough Wonwoo had been so naïve to believe that Jihoon’s life would always continue on as it was. He knew that the suppressants Jihoon took weren’t really a long time medication, but since Jihoon has taken them for 12 years straight, he kind of forgot that it was unusual to take the pills for that long.

He should have expected that one day his friend might need to stop taking the suppressants. Of course he couldn’t have guessed that Jihoon would be locked away by some crazy killer and couldn’t take his pills for almost 48 hours. But if he had prepared his heart that the other would need to take a break from the medication one day than he wouldn’t be so shocked now. He could have researched how Jihoon’s body would react to the discontinuation of the suppressants and could have helped him maybe somehow. Now he had no clue what would happen to Jihoon and if he would be able to help and support him somehow.

Omegas normally have their first heat in their teen years. Wonwoo couldn’t imagine how it would be at the age of 28 years. Things might be very different for Jihoon than for an omega who normally evolved after presenting.

“Stop overthinking. That also won’t help Jihoon-hyung.” Mingyu wiggled closer and wrapped an arm around Wonwoo’s waist. 

“Try to sleep babe. Jihoon-hyung will be alright. Like you said, Jeonghan-hyung is with him so you really don’t have to worry.”

Even when Mingyu said that, Wonwoo still felt the need to worry about many persons and things - Jihoon, who just went into heat, Soonyoung, who almost had a mental break down because of it and a crazy killer on the loose who probably was still targeting the two officers somehow. Additionally Wonwoo was wondering why the suppressants actually stopped working for Jihoon. He had deliberately tried to find Jihoon and Soonyoung as soon as possible, also because he knew that Jihoon didn’t have the suppressants with him. 

He had been really relieved to find them in time only for the suppressants not to work anymore. Soonyoung’s explanation that Jihoon’s body must have been too used to a regular intake seemed quite plausible, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was more behind it. Something strange was going on and he needed to find out what.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Wonwoo woke up the next morning at 6AM. It was half an hour before the alarm would go off and Mingyu was still soundly asleep. He rolled silently out of the bed and made his way over to the living room. He wasn’t surprised when he saw Soonyoung sitting already awake on the couch scrolling through his phone. He closed the bedroom door behind him and patted over to the couch.

“How are you feeling?” Soonyoung looked up from his phone hearing the question. He had dark circles under his eyes and Wonwoo was sure that he couldn’t have slept more than two or three hours. Maybe he hadn’t slept at all. 

“Restless, but not completely out of my mind anymore. Thank you.”

Wonwoo sat down beside Soonyoung and leaned back closing his eyes still feeling tired. “What do you want to do today?” He heard how the alpha laid his phone onto the table and made a small discontent noise.

“Go back to work.” Wonwoo opened his eyes again and looked surprised at Soonyoung. “But Seungcheol said that you should take the day off.” Soonyoung shook his head, a determined glint in his eyes. 

“I’m fine. I’m much more in control of myself again and I really need to know if the forensic team found something on the farm. I can’t just lean back with the killer still not captured. It was already unacceptable that I didn’t go to work yesterday.” Wonwoo couldn’t blame Soonyoung for feeling this way. He also didn’t feel well taking a day off when the murderer could kill any time again.

Soonyoung’s eyes suddenly narrowed dangerously and Wonwoo couldn’t help feeling unnerved because of it. “This is no longer just a case, this has become personal, Wonwoo. I’ll catch that maniac with my own hands and make him pay.” Wonwoo had never seen Soonyoung behave like this. His eyes, his posture and his voice all screamed alpha. Soonyoung had been already at university quite a gentle alpha. He was never angry, never loud and never rude. He didn’t need to behave like he was better than other people, he was just very easy to get along with. That‘s why it was very foreign to Wonwoo seeing Soonyoung radiate now such a strong alpha aura. Maybe it was still an after effect of being exposed to the pheromones of an omega in heat.

“Alright, I’ll make some coffee and then we can get ready. I can lend you some clothes for today.” Soonyoung suddenly fell out of his over domineering attitude and smiled sheepishly at Wonwoo. “Do you think you could let me stay for some more days? I don’t think I can go back tonight already.”

“I have to ask Mingyu, but I don’t think it should be a problem.” Soonyoung nodded understandingly at Wonwoo’s words. 

“Of course. Thank you really so much – for letting me stay here but also for keeping me company the whole time.”

“Isn’t that what friends are for?” They both looked quietly at each other for a moment, an awkward atmosphere hanging in the air at Wonwoo’s mention of them being friends. Suddenly both burst into laughter and Wonwoo finally got up to make coffee. They were in a damn shitty situation with Jihoon being in heat and the killer still on the run, but at least he felt that it got Soonyoung and him closer again. It took away some of the bad conscience he carried around with him since he chose Jihoon over Soonyoung at university. Maybe everything could now go back to how it should have always been between them.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Soonyoung, Wonwoo and Mingyu arrived shortly after 8AM at the police station and while Mingyu headed over to Seungcheol’s office, Soonyoung and Wonwoo went to their own office. Seokmin and Vernon were hanging over some papers on Seokmin’s desk, a worried look on their faces.

“Good morning,” Wonwoo said and both officers’ heads snapped around immediately. 

“Hyung! We thought you two would only come back to work tomorrow.” Seokmin seemed very relieved to see them which in return worried Wonwoo. Something must not go well with the case.

“I’m the team leader. I can’t drag the whole team down with staying at home and also letting Wonwoo stay with me.” Soonyoung sat down on a table and looked at the two younger officers who looked quite surprised about the alphas words. 

“But wouldn’t it have been better…” Soonyoung immediately cut Vernon’s words off. 

“I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Watching Soonyoung talk so calmly and confidently made Wonwoo respect the other quite a bit. He couldn’t be all fine already, but he was really good at keeping his emotions in control. Soonyoung was an impressive person. 

“So what did we miss?”

Seokmin gulped nervously and stared a moment at the papers on the table. “The forensic team was on the farm yesterday. They found fingerprints but they aren’t in the database. The only other thing they found was cameras in the room you were locked in, but we couldn’t track the signal. The killer must really know what he’s doing.”

Soonyoung banged with his fist onto the table an angry look on his face. “So we got nothing? We went through all of this for nothing?” Wonwoo could see the desperation in Soonyoung’s eyes. It must have dawned on the alpha that he had dragged Jihoon into a useless mission. That would just make everything more difficult now for Soonyoung, who probably felt very guilty already before.

Wonwoo tried to find something to say, but there really wasn’t anything consoling he could say in this situation. Soonyoung had fucked up and nothing anybody would say now could make him feel better.

Wonwoo let his eyes wander over to Seokmin and Vernon who looked just as helpless as him. The awkward silence got interrupted when a hectic Seungkwan came running into their office. He stopped in front of their desks and tried to catch his breath for a moment before starting to talk. 

“I didn’t know that you would be all here. Shouldn’t you be at home?” Soonyoung waved Seungkwan’s question off with a nonchalant attitude. 

“What happened, Seungkwan?” The secretary handed Soonyoung a paper and took a deep breath.

“There was a murder. From the description of the officers on scene, it was most likely the serial killer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This is probably not what everyone had hoped for. I really wanted to do Wonwoo’s POV at one point and right now seemed to be fitting. But of course it’s probably annoying because everyone wants to know what’s going on with Jihoon. That’s why I decided to post this chapter already now and then the next chapter next week. Don’t know if I’ll do it on Tuesday already. Friday also might be a good day.
> 
> So we all got questions and some of them will be answered in the next chapter when we are back in Jihoon’s POV and some will be answered later. I hope this chapter wasn’t too uninteresting D:
> 
> Thank you like always to my beta who reads my chapters really fast! And thank you to everyone who reads, likes, bookmarks, subscribes and all the other amazing things you do. For example promoting my work on Twitter T_T I feel really honored!! Thank you everyone <3
> 
> So see you then next week! Add me on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel) if you want to know when I’ll update and stuff <3


	16. A Nightmare

Jihoon woke up feeling completely exhausted. He kept his eyes tightly shut and rolled from his side onto his back. His whole body was aching and he felt sweaty and gross. The only good thing was the calming scent of roses and vanilla. It was a lovely mix of scents, but it slowly dawned on Jihoon that he didn’t know where it came from. Did someone light a scented candle?

Jihoon forced his eyes open and was greeted by the worried face of one Yoon Jeonghan. "Hyung? Why are you here? What happened?“ Jeonghan leaned over to him and felt his temperature. „Is your head clear again Jihoonie? What’s the last thing you remember?“ Jeonghan‘s questions caught Jihoon off guard. Something odd was going on here but he didn’t know what.

Jihoon tried to think back on what happened last, but his memory was a bit hazy. "Soonyoung and I were locked in and the others rescued us. We went back home and I said goodbye to Soonyoung at my door. I ate something and got a horrible headache again. And then... I don’t know. I can’t remember what happened afterwards hyung.“ Jihoon felt slightly nervous now. Why couldn’t he remember how he got into bed? What happened that he didn’t know of?

"Jihoonie, I need you to stay calm when I tell you now what happened, okay? Please, I‘m begging you.“ Jihoon sat up in bed and looked at his friend confused. It was strange for Jeonghan to be that desperate. Something was very wrong here.

"You went into heat Jihoon. The suppressants didn’t work anymore.“ Jihoon felt like someone had ripped his chest open. The shock that went through him was so great that he completely forgot to breathe. This had to be a joke. There was no way this was real. "This is not funny, hyung. Stop scaring me.“

"Do you think I would joke about something like this?“ Jihoon felt his heart hammering in his chest. Panic was rising up more and more in him but he still tried to sort his thoughts. There were so many things he wanted to say and ask but his mind was a mess. "How many days? How many days do I not remember?“ Jeonghan let out an inaudible sigh. "Seven days.“

Jihoon leaned back against the headboard of his bed and turned away from Jeonghan. He couldn’t believe what Jeonghan just said. It wasn’t possible that he couldn’t remember seven whole days. He also didn’t feel very different, just tired and his body was aching a bit. Jeonghan had to be lying. He wasn’t any different from before. There wasn’t anything that... Jihoon suddenly gripped the bed sheets tightly. There actually was one strange thing.

"The rose and vanilla scent... is it coming from you?“ Jeonghan gave him a pained smile and Jihoon knew the answer without hearing it. The suppressants really didn’t work anymore. He went back to being an omega. He twisted the bed sheets in his hands around and tried to breathe calmly. This was not a situation to panic about. He could just take the suppressants again and everything would be fine.

"It’s okay. Something like this won‘t happen again. I’ll always carry the suppressants now in the pocket of my pants again.“ Jeonghan had an expressionless look on his face and Jihoon had quite frankly never seen his friend like this before. He didn’t know what to make out of his lack of reaction. "No, you won’t Jihoonie.”

"What do you mean, hyung?“ Jihoon tried to keep his hands that started shaking slightly under control but it wasn’t possible. The officer let go of the bed sheets and hid them underneath the sheets instead. "I talked with the doctor and he said that you should have stopped taking the suppressants already long ago. If he would have known that you have these bad headaches then he wouldn’t have given you a subscription anymore. Your body is breaking apart.“

Jihoon was shaking his head from side to side. He suddenly felt dizzy and suffocated. He wanted to get out of here. "I don’t understand.“

"The doctor said you aren‘t allowed to take the suppressants at least until you had another heat. He strongly advised to abstain from taking them for one year though.“ Jihoon suddenly sprung up from bed and staggered over to the bathroom. He felt so dizzy that he almost fell down a couple of times on the way there.

Jeonghan followed him immediately but the younger one didn’t pay him any attention. The only thing on his mind was his suppressants. He searched through the cabinet where he stored his medication but he couldn’t find them there. "Where are my suppressants, hyung?“

Jihoon turned around and looked angrily at the omega. "WHERE THE FUCK ARE MY SUPPRESSANTS??“ Jeonghan looked taken aback but his voice was very calm when he answered. "I threw them away.“

"You what?“ Jihoon stumbled over to where Jeonghan was standing and gripped his shirt pulling him close. "I knew you would just keep on taking them. I had to throw them away.“ Jihoon started laughing hysterically letting go of his hyung.

"I‘ll just get new ones.“ Jeonghan gently laid a hand on Jihoon’s shoulder. „You are on the blacklist in the whole country for suppressants. You won‘t be able to get any for at least the next four months.“ Jihoon swatted Jeonghan’s hand away glaring at the other angrily.

"Why are you doing this to me? This is my life! You can‘t just decide for me like this!!“ Jihoon felt tears welling up in his eyes. This was a nightmare. A nightmare he couldn’t wake up from.

"Jihoon, you could die. You got the subscription for the suppressants because you were deemed fit to take them but now your body can’t handle them anymore. You’re one of my best friends, I can’t let you die.“

Jihoon stormed out of the bathroom and looked around. He needed to get out of here. He needed to talk with someone else. "Jihoonie please calm down.“

"Shut up! I fucking hate you!“ Jeonghan came closer and hugged the smaller one tightly. "I know. I also hate myself right now.“ Jihoon tried to push the other away, but Jeonghan stubbornly held onto him.

"Jihoon you should take a shower and I’ll make something to eat and then we can talk about everything more, okay? I‘ll help you, we can do this.“ Jihoon stopped struggling at last and let his arms fall down. "I want to be alone for a while.“

"Jihoonie I don’t think that’s a good idea.“ Jihoon pushed Jeonghan tiredly away. "Please leave me alone. It’s my only wish.“ Jeonghan gave the younger a sad look but Jihoon ignored him completely.

"Okay. I leave then for now but call me later please.“ Jihoon nodded and turned around to walk back into the bathroom. He shredded off his shirt and boxer shorts and stepped into the shower. Next to his normal body wash stood a scent blocking body wash for omegas. Jeonghan must have left it there for him. He considered not using it, but he knew it would be stupid not to when he wanted to go outside. He needed to go and talk to his doctor and fix all of this. He needed his suppressants.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Jihoon left his house and walked down the street, he noticed that he had been wrong. He was far from being just like before. Colors were brighter and everything was a lot louder than he was used to. It was a bit like buying a new super HD TV and turning it up to the highest volume.

But the worst thing of all was the scents. He could immediately tell who was an alpha, beta and omega. Jihoon decided he liked betas best. They had no annoying smell. Omegas all smelled annoyingly sweet and alphas gave off all kinds of earthy or herbal scents. Jihoon couldn’t find any appeal in it. It was all just too much for him to handle.

The hospital he always visited was luckily in a walking distance of ten minutes, so he didn’t have to suffer all the scents, colors and noises for a long time. The hospital was a lot quieter and just all white. It was much easier to bear. Only the annoying scents wouldn’t leave him alone it seemed.

Jihoon came twice a year to the hospital to get a new subscription for the suppressants, so he already knew the staff quite well. Also the receptionist at the front desk was a familiar face. "Hi, I need to see Doctor Kim. It’s an emergency.“

The receptionist looked annoyed at Jihoon, her lips curling downwards. "I know you are a police officer and you can get inside everywhere with just saying that this is an emergency. But this is the hospital and here you need an appointment...“ Jihoon just wanted to start arguing with the middle-aged woman but she just kept on talking. "But you are lucky. The doctor has time right now because another patient cancelled his appointment. You can go inside immediately.“

Jihoon muttered a thank you and hurried over to the doctor‘s office. He knocked two times loudly and opened the door hastily.

Doctor Kim looked up from some papers he was reading, not in the least surprised at Jihoon’s sudden entrance. "I expected you to come here soon after your friend called me.“

Jihoon went over to the seat in front of doctor Kim‘s desk and let himself fall down on it. "I need my suppressants.“

"I can’t give them to you. Your friend must have told you that already. You lied to me for years and said you have no health problems. You probably also lied to your friend about the headaches because he didn’t seem to think they were all that bad. They must have been horribly painful.“

Jihoon wanted to lie again and say that the headaches weren’t that bad. But there was no point in lying when the doctor already knew what was going on. "Yes okay, they were quite painful but it’s still just a headache.“

"It’s a symptom of your body refusing the suppressants. With such a headache once a week, you were already in a critical condition. You can‘t take the suppressants anymore. My decision is final.“

Jihoon jumped up from the seat again and glared angrily at the doctor. "This is my body, my life and my decision!“

The doctor seemed unimpressed by Jihoon’s outburst. He must have seen a lot worse as doctor already. "And it is my duty as a doctor to save people from dying and you will die if you don’t stop taking the suppressants immediately. You are really lucky that everything happened like this. If you would have kept on taking the suppressants then you really could have died. Your body needs to regenerate now. We can talk again after your next heat.“

Jihoon kept on glaring at the doctor, adrenaline rushing through his veins. He felt treated so unfairly. "Don’t look at me like this Lee Jihoon-sshi. I know you are not happy but I’m just doing my job. There are so many omegas who lead a perfectly fine life without taking suppressants, so you’ll be able to do the same. This is not the apocalypse. It’s just your biology. I would like to give you some advice about how to handle your life now, but I‘m under the impression that you don’t want to listen to what I have to say right now. But if you need help later, you can always call me or come here again.“

"I won’t come back. I‘ll find a doctor who will give me a subscription for the suppressants!“ Jihoon turned around and stormed angrily out of the room. There was no point in arguing with the doctor anymore.

When Jihoon stepped outside again, all noises, scents and colors were again like a slap in the face. His eyes burned slightly and he suddenly felt very tired. Still he didn’t want to go home. He didn’t want to talk to Jeonghan or any of his friends about his situation. He didn’t want to hear that everything would be alright or that it wasn’t even that bad.

Jihoon just wanted to be alone, so he didn’t take the route back to his home but walked into the other direction. There was a big park near the hospital where he always went to when he wanted to clear his head. That was maybe exactly the place he needed right now.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jihoon sat for hours on a park bench just thinking about what had happened. He went from being angry to frustrated then sad, and finally accepting that he had no way to get out of this nightmare.

"I thought you might be here.“ Jihoon looked up and saw Wonwoo standing in front of him. "Can I sit?“ Jihoon nodded his head and shifted a bit more to the left side.

"We were worried about you. You just left and didn’t answer your phone. Jeonghan-hyung was completely out of his mind and kept on saying that he shouldn’t have left you alone. I already contacted him and told him where you are.“ Jihoon felt bad hearing how worried everyone had been about him. He shouldn’t have left his phone at home, but he hadn’t been in his right mind earlier, so he simply forgot to take it with him.

"I‘m sorry. I kind of forgot about the time. I first went to the doctor and then just didn’t want to go home.“ Jihoon leaned back on the bench and looked up at the sky. It was a lovely blue color, prettier than he had ever seen it before. Unfortunately he wasn’t in the mood to fully appreciate it.

"It’s okay Jihoon. We all understand.“ Jihoon shook his head. „No, it’s not. I said many harsh things to Jeonghan-hyung and I should have known he would worry if I‘ll disappear for a long time. Hyung cared for me through my whole heat. Even if I can’t remember any of it, it must have been a lot of trouble. I’m really lucky that hyung found me.“ Wonwoo cleared his throat and Jihoon looked finally at his friend. He didn’t like the look on the betas face. "Actually it was Soonyoung who found you.“

Wonwoo’s words went through Jihoon like a shock. He felt the distress from earlier full force coming back suffocating him. "No, no, no, that can’t be…. What exactly happened when Soonyoung found me?"

Wonwoo shrugged at Jihoon’s question. "You should ask Jeonghan. I just know that he called hyung to take care of you and that he was pretty affected by the whole thing afterwards. He actually stayed over at Mingyu’s and my place.“

Jihoon chose not to talk any further about the topic but in his mind was still busily thinking about what might have happened. How did he behave in front of Soonyoung? What did Wonwoo mean with Soonyoung being pretty affected?

"So what did the doctor say?“ Jihoon focused on Wonwoo again, thankful that he didn’t need to think about Soonyoung anymore, even though the new topic was just barely better.

"That I probably would have died soon if I would have kept on taking the suppressants. Wonwoo, I lied to the doctor intentionally. I always knew that there was the possibility that my body wouldn’t be able to handle the suppressants anymore. Not many take them over a long time, you know. My doctor advised me a couple of times to take a break from them, but I stubbornly refused. And because I said that my health is fine, he kept on giving me a subscription for new suppressants. I was just… so scared. I’m still scared. I don’t know how to handle this, Wonwoo.“

Wonwoo listened quietly to Jihoon’s talk. The omega knew that his friend as beta couldn’t give him the best advice in this situation, but they knew each other for a very long time and he could always count on the other never lying to him and trying the best for him. That’s why Wonwoo’s opinion would always be one of the most valuable for Jihoon "You might not know it now, but you’ll learn. You don’t have to be scared because you have many people who care for you. Also you can always ask Jeonghan... oh well, talking about Jeonghan...“

Jihoon followed Wonwoo’s line of view and saw Jeonghan sprinting up to them, Seungcheol following close behind. When Jeonghan reached the bench, he immediately took Jihoon’s face in his hands and inspected it from every side. “My baby! Jihoonie!!! Are you alright?“

Wonwoo beside him laughed loudly and he could also see Seungcheol grinning from the corner of his eye. Normally he would scold Jeonghan for calling him his baby, but he had too much to make up for to get angry at the older. “I’m sorry hyung. I shouldn’t have stayed outside for such a long time. Also… I shouldn’t have said that I hate you. I don’t hate you. You stayed with me through my whole heat and it must have been very difficult. When I woke up I was even in fresh clothes. I didn’t appreciate what you did for me at all but just screamed at you. I’m really sorry.”

Jeonghan hugged him tightly. “It’s okay Jihoonie. I know you don’t hate me. You were just panicking. Don’t worry about it.” Jihoon closed his eyes and inhaled deeply the scent of his hyung. Earlier he thought that it was just rose and vanilla but there was a thin layer of something like sandalwood in there too. It must be because he’s mated to Seungcheol. Strangely enough it blended together in perfect harmony.

Jeonghan let Jihoon go and straightened himself again. “What is it you want to ask, Jihoonie?” Jihoon wasn’t sure if Jeonghan just read it from his face or if he could detect it on his smell that he was curious about something. He didn’t even want to know.

“Wonwoo said that Soonyoung found me first when I went into heat. What happened?” Jeonghan looked like he had expected that question and answered quite fast. “He called me.”

“Hyung, what exactly happened? He’s an alpha and I was… I was in heat. What happened? I need to know! How else should I look at Soonyoung again?” Jeonghan suddenly squeezed himself between Jihoon and Wonwoo onto the bench looking extremely tired.

“You really have to thank Soonyoung later. He behaved exceptional even though your pheromones were really heavy. He didn’t touch you at all but called me instead to help you… but it was really difficult for him. He was close to snapping. Really close. I could see it in his eyes but also smell it on his pheromones which were completely out of control.” Jihoon gulped nervously. The image of Soonyoung going crazy because of him made his head slightly hazy. Was that normal?

“What about me? What did I do? I can’t remember anything at all. Come on hyung, tell me. And no lies.” Jeonghan looked at his hands for a while before speaking up. His scent slightly shifted but Jihoon didn’t know what it meant. “You begged him not to leave. You cried and screamed for your alpha not to leave you. It was a pretty heartbreaking sight. I can’t even begin to imagine how Soonyoung must have felt in that situation. Alphas have the instinct to protect an omega, especially one in heat. He must have been close to insanity leaving you behind like this.”

Jihoon felt his face heating up at Jeonghan’s words. This was even more embarrassing than he imagined. Maybe he would have been better off not knowing. “Actually through your heat I was mostly in the living room, only checking up on you when you were in a resting phase. But from there I heard you crying so much through your whole heat. It’s always painful to go through a heat alone for an omega, but it seemed to be especially bad for you. I think you really felt like your alpha left you alone.” Jihoon suddenly got up from the bench and started walking away. He couldn’t listen to this anymore.

“Hey Jihoonie, don’t just walk away!!” Jeonghan, Seungcheol and Wonwoo quickly caught up with him and the four of them slowly made their way back to the apartment complex.

“How are you coping with everything, Jihoonie? Especially the smells?” Jihoon shrugged at Jeonghan’s question. “It’s annoying.” Jeonghan suddenly stopped and Jihoon couldn’t help doing the same wondering what the problem was. 

Jeonghan and Seungcheol were looking strangely at each other and Jihoon knew that something was going on. “It’s just annoying? You have no problems with the scent of alphas?” Jihoon shook his head, confused at why this was so surprising. “Yeah, they are not very appealing to me. Some scents are nice but most of them are just annoying. Smelling so many different scents must be annoying for you too.”

Jeonghan suddenly started walking again and Jihoon was this time the one to sprint after the older. “What is so surprising about this?” He asked and Jeonghan hesitated answering for a moment. “It’s just surprising that you aren’t greatly affected by alpha scents. New presented omegas are easily affected and you are almost like a new presented one. But maybe it’s different for you because you are older.”

Jihoon suddenly remembered how Doctor Kim had said to him that he could come back when he had questions. Maybe he really should go back to the hospital soon. He didn’t know what was normal for him and what not. Also Jeonghan of course couldn’t know how an omega who took for so many years suppressants would behave after suddenly not taking them anymore.

“Will you be alright, Jihoonie?” Jihoon sighed loudly for everyone to hear. “I’ll manage somehow. It’s hopefully just for four months. This will neither change me nor break me.”

Jihoon could feel the lie in his words as soon as he said them. He had already started changing. But it made no difference to him. He could just go back to the way it always had been after taking a break from the suppressants for four months. Such a short time was nothing compared to living up to now as a beta. This was just a short nightmare and at one point he would wake up from it again and he could forget that all of this happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So this update comes on a strange date for me but it’s kind of difficult to keep up my normal schedule on holidays!
> 
> We are back with Jihoon and learned that he can only blame himself for the situation he is in. I can promise that from now on lots of things will happen. Next chapter is a critical one, that’s also why it takes forever to finish but I‘ll hopefully be able to upload it next week. Really don’t know on which day though.
> 
> Thank you like always to my beta! And thank you for reading, commenting, liking <3 You’re all awesome :D
> 
> See you soon! Follow me for updates on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel)


	17. Omega Biology

In just a day, Jihoon’s whole life had changed. He went through a whirlwind of emotions, but he decided to stay strong and fight his personal nightmare of being an omega. It was just a limited time after all. That’s also why Jihoon went back to work the next day. Jeonghan had tried to convince him when they arrived back at their apartment complex to stay at least one more day at home, but Jihoon didn’t want to hear any of it. He needed to get back to his job. He already missed a whole week and didn’t know at all what happened with the case in the meantime. He needed to assist his team and his work would also help him to feel more normal again. Feeling normal was exactly what he needed right now.

He arrived at the office at 8AM sharp and he expected to be one of the first ones. But curiously enough, everyone was already there. He cleared loudly his throat and his three team members looked up from whatever they were reading at that moment. 

“Jihoon you’re back already?” Jihoon gave Wonwoo a sour smile at his question. 

“Already? I wasn’t at work for one week. I couldn’t stay at home any longer. I must have missed an insane amount at work.”

Vernon looked curiously at Jihoon and the older officer couldn’t help but wonder if Vernon as alpha was checking out his scent and what he was feeling. It was very unnerving to Jihoon to know that other people could suddenly understand what he was feeling just through his scent. His poker face would be useless now. “But hyung, this is not something you can control…” Jihoon gave Vernon a sharp look and the younger shut up immediately. Vernon gave off a scent of pine and strangely enough fresh snow and the scent pulled back slightly at Jihoon’s annoyed gaze. He kept on forgetting that not only others could scent and sense him now but he could do the same. He still couldn’t really read their scents, but noticing that Vernon was intimidated by his behavior was a small first victory to him.

“Let’s not talk about this anymore, okay? I’m feeling well enough to work and that’s everything you need to know.” Jihoon wanted to say that he’s feeling good, but he held himself back from saying that because it would have been a blunt lie. He barely managed to live with his new senses at this point. Everything was still overwhelming to him.

“You should tell me what happened with the case. I must have missed a lot.” Wonwoo, Seokmin and Vernon looked at each other, obviously not knowing what to tell Jihoon. If his team members reacted like that, something bad must have happened. “What the hell is going on? Don’t just stay silent!”

“Maybe it would be best if Soonyoung explains to you what happened. He’s already in his office.” It was curious to Jihoon that not even Wonwoo wanted to tell Jihoon what was going on. Pushing all responsibility onto Soonyoung wasn’t something Wonwoo would normally do. Of course Soonyoung was the team leader and handling the case was his responsibility, but Jihoon couldn’t help feeling that something fishy was going on here.

“Okay, whatever. I’ll go and talk to Soonyoung then.” Jihoon walked with big steps over to Soonyoung’s office but right before opening the door, he paused for a moment. He remembered suddenly Jeonghan’s words from the previous day. He really needed to thank Soonyoung for how he behaved, but at the same time he felt slightly embarrassed about what had happened. The only good thing was that he couldn’t remember any of it. If he would remember begging Soonyoung to stay with him, he would probably never be able to look the alpha in the eye again.

The longer Jihoon stood in front of Soonyoung’s door, the more restless he became. The strange thing was that this feeling wasn’t a result of feeling embarrassed. He was restless because of something else, but he didn’t know what it was. Something inside him told him to go inside the office and just like in trance he finally opened the door. 

Jihoon stepped into Soonyoung’s office and halted only a few steps into the room. The scent that filled up all his senses made him weak in the knees, unable to walk anymore. The warm scent of coffee was mixed together with a layer of fresh mint that was so crisp it knocked the air right out of Jihoon’s lungs. Since his omega senses kicked in, he hadn’t smelled something similarly alluring to this scent. The smell of coffee had always been one of his favorite scents. Very strong and slightly bitter but it still always gave him a warm feeling. The mint reminded him of a fresh spring morning and of the gum he liked so much. It felt like a gentle caress on his skin. The two scents together were the perfect combination. He wanted to bathe in it, roll around in it and just smell it on himself 24/7. It was a scent that made you feel protected and loved.

Jihoon finally looked at Soonyoung who watched him intently and the omega lost it completely in that moment. A wave of arousal crashed down so strongly on him that he almost couldn’t stand upright anymore. Jihoon staggered another step closer to Soonyoung’s desk. The scent was luring him in. He needed to be closer, closer to that alluring scent and closer to that perfect man. Perfect alpha with his strong shoulders, large hands and the most expressive eyes he had ever seen. No one else came close to being that perfect, no one smelled that good.

Another step and Jihoon was right in front of the desk grabbing tightly onto the desks edge. The only thought left in Jihoon’s mind was to submit, right here. As long as the alpha didn’t reject him, he would do anything for him. 

“You smell so good.” Jihoon whined quietly and Soonyoung immediately got up from his chair and walked over to the omega. 

“Jihoonie, are you okay? I thought your heat was over.” He strongly gripped Jihoon’s arm and the younger one woke up from his trance finally. 

“S-sorry…” he stuttered and took a step back. What had happened here? What did he just do?

Jihoon pulled his arm strongly out of Soonyoung’s grip and ran out of the room. His feelings were all over the place and arousal was still rushing through his whole body. He was confused and didn’t know what to do. He run as fast as his feet were carrying him into the bathroom and opened a cubicle and closed it behind him. He was shaking so much that he slid down the door until he sat on the ground, arms tightly closed around drawn up legs.

Jihoon still couldn’t get the scent of Soonyoung’s pheromones out of his mind. He wanted to be closer to the scent again but at the same time he was scared – scared why his body but especially his mind reacted to Soonyoung’s scent like this. That wasn’t normal. He had never seen an omega react to the scent of an alpha like this. Like Soonyoung had said, he wasn’t in heat anymore. There was no reason to go so crazy over an alphas scent. Something must be wrong with him.

Jihoon felt tears sliding hotly over his cheeks. He didn’t even know when he started crying and he also didn’t know why he started crying. He was so confused.

The door to the bathroom opened and Jihoon smelled the familiar scent of rose and vanilla. “Jihoonie?” Jeonghan knocked against the door quietly. “Hey, open the door.” Jihoon slowly stood up again and opened the door with shaking hands. As soon as he saw Jeonghan, he started crying even harder. Jeonghan embraced him immediately and caressed his back in soothing motions.

“It’s okay, Jihoonie. Calm down, everything will be okay.” Jihoon sobbed and buried his face in Jeonghan’s neck. So close to the other omega, the scent of Seungcheol was a lot more noticeable than from for away. Their mixed scent was quite calming.

“Hyung, I think something is wrong with me.” Jihoon got out of the embrace and took a couple of steps back until he hit the wall. He slid down the wall again and hid his face behind an arm.

"What happened? I could smell your distress all the way over to our department. You seemed well enough yesterday.“ Jihoon tried to calm down somehow but it was so difficult with all the feelings still swirling around in him making his mind hazy.

"I was okay. I could deal with everything well until I went into Soonyoung’s office.“ Jeonghan slowly crouched down and patted Jihoon’s head lightly. 

„Hyung, his smell. It’s driving me completely crazy.“ Jeonghan didn’t say anything and just kept on patting the smaller one. "I even told him he smells good. It just came out of my mouth! Fuck! I’m so embarrassed. Why am I behaving like this?“

Jihoon looked at Jeonghan at last and saw a very serious expression on his face. "Jihoonie, I didn’t want to tell you this because it’s not something I should tell you, but in this situation I have no other choice. There are only two cases where an omega reacts strongly to an alpha outside of his heats. It can happen when the pair is very compatible.“ Jihoon remembered the talk he had a while ago with Seungcheol about Vernon and Seungkwan. That was what happened to these two, but neither of them reacted as strongly as he did, so this couldn’t be the case for him.

"The other case where omegas react to an alphas scent strongly is when they like them.” Jihoon froze up at Jeonghan’s words. That couldn’t be the truth. 

"When you react that strongly to Soonyoung’s scent then both of these must be the case for you. Jihoon, you reacted to Soonyoung’s scent so strongly because you’re drawn to him as omega but you also like him as a person. Only if you like him a lot you react to his smell like that.“

Jihoon’s heartbeat sped up and his mouth suddenly felt completely dry. "No, I don’t like him,“ he said stubbornly. He didn’t believe one word of what Jeonghan just told him. 

"Yes, you do. You didn’t know because betas don’t have the senses to notice it immediately and you are quite frankly too dumb to notice something like that fast by yourself. But I‘ve seen it, Jihoonie. The way you looked at that kitschy pink plush cat didn’t lie. Also you calling Soonyoung ‘your alpha’ through your heat is actually not a normal thing to do. Even in a feral state of mind an omega wouldn’t just call any alpha theirs. You only do that if you really feel that way.“ Jihoon suddenly got up from the floor and glared at Jeonghan who also stood up again.

"No, no, no. That’s not true. I don’t like him.“ Jeonghan sighed loudly and leaned against the wall. 

"You can deny it as much as you want but it’s still the truth. Actually there is even more, Jihoonie. You said that you don’t react to any alphas scent. Like I told you already that is not normal for a newly presented omega. That only happens when you already have strong feelings for someone and aren’t interested in other alphas anymore. I should have told you that immediately but I thought it might really be because of your age. If I would have known that Soonyoung’s scent would affect you that much, I would have told you beforehand. I’m sorry.“

Jihoon shook his head without a break fidgeting with his fingers nervously. “I don’t like him.” Jeonghan looked at him with gentle eyes but it didn’t make the situation better. It just felt like pity to Jihoon. 

“If you calmly think and feel than you’ll know it’s the truth. It’s in your biology to notice these things.” Jihoon thought back on what happened in Soonyoung’s office. What the alphas smell triggered in him. When the realization hit him he started shaking slightly again. He wanted Soonyoung. He wanted him so much he could feel it in every fiber of his body. He wanted the alpha to hold him, be with him, kiss him and so much more. Jeonghan was right, it was impossible not to know. But he hadn’t felt any of these emotions when he was still taking the suppressants so it was strangely confusing. It was a bit like falling in love at first sight. Hard.

Through all his confused feelings, there was one more thing he finally understood now that his omega biology was taking over his mind and body. Jihoon had meant to ask Jeonghan why he had reacted so stupid because of Soonyoung’s advances at university but now he didn’t need to ask anymore. His own mind was providing the answer. The explanation was that his biology had worked against the suppressants the whole time. His omega self had been attracted to Soonyoung and everything got out of hand when the other scented him. He went crazy because he couldn’t smell Soonyoung on himself. He had been angry the whole time because the suppressants denied him what he had wanted: Smelling the scent of the alpha he was attracted to on himself. Jihoon had fucked himself over big times. People always said that there are consequences for everything. He could really feel that now. The consequences for denying his real biology were graver than he could have ever expected. It felt like someone pulled the rug out from under his feet.

The thing was, Jihoon hated it. All of it. In his mind all these emotions were foreign to him and he couldn’t accept them without questioning them. The emotions for Soonyoung felt real but in his mind it didn’t make any sense. When he still took the suppressants, he never thought once that he liked Soonyoung and now his whole being was suddenly screaming for the alpha. This was so wrong to Jihoon. 

“I don’t want to feel this. I never felt anything like this before. This is not who I am hyung.” Jeonghan gave Jihoon a small smile and it unnerved him quite a lot. 

“No Jihoon, this is exactly who you are. For the first time in your life you are your real self and you have to start accepting who you are. An omega.”

Jihoon took a couple of steps away from Jeonghan, still not wanting to accept what the older one was telling him. “I know it’s difficult in the beginning, Jihoonie. For everyone it’s difficult in the beginning. Do you think it was easy for me? I also have a strong character and hated a lot of things in the beginning too, but being an omega doesn’t make you a worst person! You have to embrace your nature and be happy with it. If I wouldn’t be an omega, I wouldn’t be together with Seungcheol right now and I would never ever want to even think about not being with him.”

Jihoon stared at Jeonghan with void eyes. This whole situation was a big complicated mess and he didn’t know how to get out of it. “Jihoon you are still yourself. Nothing has changed.” The younger one laughed coldly at Jeonghan’s words. That’s the same thing he tried to tell himself since he woke up after his heat but it became more and more difficult to believe that. How could he still be himself when he behaved like a wild animal?

Jihoon sighed and pushed that thought out of his mind for now. There was an even more pressing matter on hand that he had to worry about. „What do I do now, hyung? I have to work together with Soonyoung and I can’t hide these stupid feelings because he’s an alpha and will know immediately. But I don’t want him to know about it! How should I work with him then? I don’t want all of this!!“ Jihoon got louder and louder the longer he talked and his words were reverberating strongly in the small bathroom.

"Calm down, Jihoonie. Everything will be alright. He probably just thinks your pheromones are out of control. Normally pheromones don’t flare out like yours are doing right now. You just can’t control them because you never learned how to do it. You should go home for the day and I‘ll teach you everything I know later, okay? I’ll talk also to Soonyoung. I promise you that he won’t know. I’m good at manipulating people, you know that. Trust me.“ Jihoon nodded weakly and wobbled over to the door. 

"I think I really need to get out of here for today. I’ll go insane if I’ll see Soonyoung again. I can’t deal with it right now.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jihoon tried to sleep when he came home but to no avail. Afterwards he tried to watch a movie but he couldn’t concentrate on it so he turned it off after only half an hour. He went to the kitchen and thought about cooking something but first of all he was a horrible cook and secondly he didn’t even have something he could cook in his fridge. He considered ordering some food but decided that he wasn’t even hungry to begin with.

Jihoon lay down on the couch in the living room and closed his eyes. His mind immediately drifted back to what had happened earlier. He had been dreading that he could only think about Soonyoung when returning home. He really made an effort to think about something else but he always ended up remembering the scent of Soonyoung’s pheromones.

Remembering the alphas amazing scent lead to Jihoon wanting to know how it would be if Soonyoung would stimulate all his newly heightened senses. How would it feel like if the other touches or kisses him? How would he taste like and how would it sound if the other moaned? 

Jihoon rolled onto his front and hid his face in a cushion. Everything was horrible. How should he live like that? His life had been perfectly fine. He had everything under control and there hadn’t been any unwelcome feelings. But now his whole life turned upside down and he got confronted with feelings and needs he didn’t even know he had. 

Jeonghan had said that the feelings were there all along but he seriously doubted that. Soonyoung had been a friend until he cut off their friendship and now he had slowly become a friend again. Yes, he liked Soonyoung as a friend, but that was all it was.

The omega felt his heart clench painfully at the thought. His body was rejecting his thoughts clearly. Jihoon rolled again onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He didn’t love Soonyoung. Even when his whole body screamed that it was a lie and even his mind battled with different ideas, he wouldn’t accept any of it. He didn’t want to be controlled by his omega nature but he wanted to be the same Lee Jihoon who didn’t like Soonyoung in a romantic way.

His mind was providing Jihoon memories of being in Soonyoung’s embrace, of being happy about Soonyoung’s present and of just feeling content when he saw a rare smile on the alphas face. He didn’t like Soonyoung. He really didn’t...

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon had fallen into an restless sleep and only woke up when the doorbell rang. He slowly made his way over to the door and saw Jeonghan waiting in front of it. "Hyung? What time is it? It seems to be a bit too early for you to be here already.“ Jeonghan went inside the apartment and shrugged his shoes off and left his coat on the cloth rag.

"I took half a day off. Seungkwan managed the last week well alone, he‘ll also manage another half day.“ Jeonghan sat down on the couch and looked curiously at Jihoon. „What did you do the last hours?“

Jihoon sat down beside the older one but stared at the wall opposite of him. "Nothing really. I thought about some things and then I feel asleep at one point.“ Jeonghan nodded understandingly.

"You should still be quite tired. A heat is hard on the body. I always stay at least two more days at home after a heat is over.“ Jihoon didn’t comment on what Jeonghan said because he plainly had nothing to add and also didn’t want to talk about his heat again. If he would not talk about it, he could imagine that it never happened. It was actually quite easy to do that because he didn’t remember anything of it.

Unfortunately there was another thing he couldn’t ignore that easily: His reaction to Soonyoung’s scent. It still drove him insane and one thing in particular bothered him.

“Hyung is it normal that…” Jihoon broke the question off, because he felt a bit embarrassed asking Jeonghan something like this. But he really needed to know. “Is it normal that I got aroused by Soonyoung’s scent?” 

Jeonghan didn’t laugh about Jihoon’s question but just gently smiled at him. “Yes, it’s very normal.”

“But it affected me so strongly! He didn’t even touch me but I almost went insane with need. There were thoughts in my head… I don’t even dare to say them out loudly.” Even now these thoughts were haunting him. He always tried to push them away but they came back persistently. 

“Jihoon, the senses of omegas and alphas are a lot more heightened than the ones of a beta. We feel much more than them and we also have different needs than them. Feeling the need to submit to an alpha, the need to get filled, the need to get mated and pregnant… it’s all part of the deal. But these feelings don’t define you. You can control these needs quite well with time. Still if alpha and omega are together, certain things will just feel right.” It felt like a lever moved inside of Jihoon and his emotions completely switched. He had been confused earlier, but now he was extremely annoyed and irritated. Every word that came out of Jeonghan’s mouth made Jihoon annoyed and angry. Jeonghan wanted to make something out of him that he wasn’t. He had a right to chose how to live his life and this wasn’t what he wanted.

“I don’t want it. My body is telling me things I don’t really need! It’s all just stupid biology! I don’t want to submit and mate and get pregnant! It’s ridiculous.” Jeonghan was obviously annoyed for a moment but straightened his face immediately again.

“This is all just very new to you. You never thought about things like this because you always lived as a beta. You’ll slowly learn the appeal of your biology.” Jihoon made a sour face at Jeonghan’s words. 

“There is no appeal in it. Like I said, I don’t want any of this.”

Jeonghan sighed loudly. It was easy to see that the older one had problems to keep calm with Jihoon behaving like a stubborn child. “I know Jihoonie, I know. Just give it some time and try to learn to live in harmony together with your omega biology. And please try to calm down and not let your emotions rule you like this. You’re becoming unfair and mean.”

Jihoon got up from the couch totally done with listening to Jeonghan. “How often do I have to repeat that I don’t want it? I was leading a better life before. I don’t want this stupid animalistic omega biology and I don’t want Soonyoung in any way!” Jeonghan’s eyes narrowed slightly while Jihoon screamed at him.

“So when you were in Soonyoung’s office you didn’t want him to rip your clothes off and fuck you on the table? You really didn’t want that?” Jeonghan had been always a very blunt person and it came as no shock to Jihoon that he talked so nonchalantly about this, still he blushed a deep red. He wanted to deny everything, but the problem was that his body told him even in this moment that Jeonghan was completely right. It was exactly what he wanted and needed.

“I… I don’t…” Jihoon couldn’t lie about it. He really wanted to but all the emotions that were running again through him made it difficult to clearly think and he just couldn’t come up with an believable excuse. “And there is more to it Jihoonie. This is not just about sex, you want to be close to him, you want him to take care of you, love you so much that you won’t be able to breathe anymore.”

Jihoon was shaking his head continuously. He started panicking again like earlier. The want, the love, Jeonghan’s words, it was all just too much to handle.

“You like him Jihoon. Even as beta you would have wanted these things! You would have just needed more time to notice that you like him, but this is not all about the biological attraction. You like Soonyoung as person. You met him again and fell for him immediately. And you probably already loved him at university and were just cowardly running away because he is an alpha. And now you want to run away again and…”

“Please stop.” Tears were flowing over Jihoon’s cheeks again. He couldn’t listen to this anymore.

Jeonghan stopped immediately talking when he saw Jihoon crying. “Sorry. Sorry, Jihoonie. It must be all too much for you. I’m sorry. It’s just when you talk about omegas like they are no real people but just some sort of animals that I also can’t help feeling hurt.” In the back of his mind Jihoon felt apologetic for hurting Jeonghan but right now it was difficult to see something else than his own emotions.

“I don’t like him,“ Jihoon said in a small voice, not looking at Jeonghan. 

“Yes, I know. Let’s start with the training, okay?” Jeonghan’s voice was gentle again and Jihoon sat back onto the couch and looked at the other omega at last. There was a friendly smile on Jeonghan’s face and finally the regret of having acted like an ass fully kicked in. He normally wasn’t this emotionally unsteady anymore. He had been like this many years ago - always mean, letting his emotions run wild and never thinking about the consequences. But since he started working at the police station he had calmed down a lot, because he was content with his work and happy being together with his friends. 

Jihoon really didn’t want be like his past self anymore, just because of his omega biology. He needed to get the situation under control before he would do more things he regretted. He needed to learn how to control his emotions and pheromones and Jeonghan hopefully would be able to help him with that.

"Okay listen Jihoonie, it is most important for us to have our emotions under control because the more emotional we get, the more pheromones we produce. On top of that it gets gradually more difficult to think straight if omegas feel a very strong emotion and you end up completely out of control. Pretty much every emotion can be a trigger: Sadness, anger, fear, but also very strong love and lust.“ Jihoon listened to Jeonghan calm and attentively but when the other mentioned love and lust, he almost sprung up again to flee, but he held back the urge. He needed to learn how to control his feelings to live a somehow livable life for the next four months.

"I think every omega has their own way to manage their feelings. It’s normally something you slowly work at after presenting. You could probably come up with something yourself after a while but you seem not to be in a mood to wait, so I tell you what I’m normally doing in highly emotional situations. It’s not that difficult.“ Jihoon seriously doubted he was telling the truth when Jeonghan said that it’s not that difficult. If everything would be so easy then he wouldn’t even be in this awful situation right now. He wouldn’t made a fool out of himself and told Soonyoung he smelled good and he wouldn’t have started crying when Jeonghan kept on telling him how much he liked Soonyoung. 

"If I start getting very emotional, and I‘m not talking about normal happiness or sadness but very strong emotions, then I try to think myself out of the situation. I have different scenarios in my head that calm me down. For example Seungcheol and I went together walking in a big forest when we were still not mated - I really like using that memory.“ Jihoon remembered Jeonghan as well as Seungcheol talking about that multiple times. The forest had left a big impression on both of them.

"I try to think myself back into that situation. How I walked through the forest, how the air smelled, what I’ve heard and every small detail. Finally I try remember what exactly I felt in that moment. That’s the most important part, you need to really get into the feelings you had at that time. Then you’ll be able to cancel out your current feelings.“ Jihoon stared at Jeonghan as if the omega had grown a second head. Cancel out your current feelings with a calming memory? That sounded ridiculous and impossible.

"Can you think about a situation like this Jihoonie? One that felt very calming?“ The first thing that shot up in his mind was the time he had sat on Soonyoung’s lap being embraced by the alpha. He hated himself for thinking about that first. Also it probably wouldn’t be useful to use a situation that contained Soonyoung when he wanted to get his feelings for said alpha under control.

"I don’t know.“ He really couldn’t think about a situation like that. Maybe because he was still too emotionally unstable to remember something nice. 

"Something from you childhood in Busan maybe? There must be a day you like to think back to.“ Now that Jeonghan mentioned Busan, Jihoon knew immediately what memory he could use.

"Yeah, I went with my dad sailing after graduating from high school. That had been very nice.“ Jeonghan clapped loudly. 

"I knew there must be something! Now first think back on what happened in Soonyoung’s office and then try to push the emotions away like I told you.“

Jihoon looked sceptical at Jeonghan. He felt like a Jedi in Star Wars who needed to learn how to control the Force. He really tried to take the whole thing serious but it was so difficult when everything seemed so ridiculous. Still he had no other choice than try out what Jeonghan had told him.

Jihoon slowly breathed in and out and then thought back on how he walked today into Soonyoung’s office. He immediately remembered the alphas scent again, how it filled him up completely and left a hot feeling in his whole body behind. Jihoon’s mind was fuzzing up slightly and he knew that this was the point where he had to push his emotions aside or he would lose himself again in the feeling of wanting the alpha so much that it drove him insane.

The omega forced his mind to go from Soonyoung’s office way back in time to the trip on the sailboat. He still remembered the scent of the ocean and how the sun was shining gently on his face. There was a breeze but it wasn’t cold and Jihoon had felt like he had no worries in this world. Maybe at that time it was even true.

His father had laughed at him and told him that he’s proud that he got accepted into police university. He felt amazed hearing his father’s words, also happy and calm. He still remembered thinking that he really wanted to do this again one day. It really had been a nice day.

Jihoon took another deep breath and finally looked at Jeonghan again. "You made it. Your pheromones are almost back to normal. If you’ll remember everything I told you, it will be easier to control your feelings and also your pheromones now. Of course you won’t be perfect in the beginning but it will get easier each time your emotions go out of control. And now you should go to Soonyoung when he’s back from work and talk to him about the case.”

Jihoon almost fell in shock off the couch at Jeonghan’s suggestion. “What? No! I can’t go to him now!” He had just calmed down but now Jihoon went back into full panic mood. He couldn’t stand the thought of seeing Soonyoung right now and smelling his alluring pheromones again.

“Jihoon do you want to go to work tomorrow?” Jihoon nodded carefully. “Then you need to be able to talk to Soonyoung and it’s better if you talk to him first at home rather than at work. Or do you want to run away from work again?” Jihoon didn’t answer Jeonghan for a long time, but when he finally did, he had a determined look on his face.

“You’re right. I need to do this.” In reality, he didn’t feel emotionally stable enough to see Soonyoung but he didn’t have any other choice if he wanted to continue working at the police station. He had to learn how to cope with being around Soonyoung. Right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I’m really, really sorry for the late update T_T I brought the wrong data on my travel with me, so I had to wait until I was back at home again. I’ll be back now to updating regularly! This chapter is a bit longer than normal, so it hopefully makes a bit up for it.
> 
> This chapter took me forever to write because Jihoon is emotionally unstable and it’s difficult to describe his confused feelings. 
> 
> So does this ending count as cliffhanger? If yes, then I’m sorry D: In the next chapter there will be lots of stuff happening again (actually there will be lots of stuff now happening all the time)! Of course first of all we get a real talk between Jihoon and Soonyoung (everyone is probably waiting for that) and there will be finally an update on the case again! Feels like forever that I wrote about the case. There will be actually even more things happening but I don’t want to spoil anything hehe.
> 
> I didn’t really prewrite lots of stuff on my travel because I was more busy than I expected, so I’ll probably update next Saturday again! Tuesday miiight be difficult. I see what I can do.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for correcting this even though being on holiday!  
And thank you to all of you for reading, commenting, giving kudos and bookmarking this story. I’m seriously happy many people like Code Red so much because it’s also very dear to my heart <3 So THANK YOU!
> 
> See you soon! Like always you can follow me on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel) for updates on my writing :D


	18. Acceptance

It was a bit after 9AM and Jihoon was walking up and down in front of Soonyoung’s front door. He tried to prepare himself in the last hours for this talk but now that he was so close to actually seeing the alpha again, he couldn’t help but to feel nervous. 

Jihoon went through what Jeonghan had told him countless of times and he seemed to slowly get the hang of it. Hopefully it would also work when standing in front of Soonyoung. Jihoon finally stopped his pacing and knocked at the door. No procrastination, he needed to get this talk over with. 

The door opened faster than he expected and the scent of coffee and mint was like a slap in the face. He immediately tried to think back to the day on the sailboat but it wasn’t working. The pheromones were like a strong wave pushing him closer to the alpha in front of him. Jihoon couldn’t swim against the stream even when he wanted to.

Jihoon took a step forward and looked finally at Soonyoung. The alpha had an unreadable expression on his face. “What are you doing here Jihoon?“ He asked in a quiet voice and Jihoon had to shake his head hardly to get his brain somehow working again. 

“The case... I wanted to talk about the case.“

Soonyoung opened the door wider so Jihoon could step inside. The omega hesitated for a moment before finally going into the flat. He wanted to run away but he knew it would be of no use. He couldn’t run away forever from Soonyoung.

He walked over to the couch and sat down. Soonyoung followed him quietly and sat beside him, but with a much greater distance than the previous times Jihoon had been over at his flat. Jihoon wondered what the other was thinking right now and what he was smelling on him. Could the alpha sense how much he was attracted to him?

Both of them didn’t say anything but just stared ahead. Jihoon saw the clock still lying there without the batteries inside. He wished that time would have really stopped when he had been over the last time at Soonyoung’s flat. Everything had been still okay then. Now he was sitting here and the attraction to Soonyoung was pulling at him, making him slowly go insane. He finally turned his head around and saw the alpha doing the same thing. There was an emotion in the brown orbs he couldn’t decipher, but he felt Soonyoung’s pheromones getting slightly stronger and he knew he couldn’t hold on much longer before his mind became completely fuzzy again.

Jihoon closed his eyes and concentrated on the day on the sailboat. On the calmness he had felt that day and it cleared his mind up a bit again. When he opened his eyes and looked at Soonyoung again words slipped out of his mouth without a second thought. “You called Jeonghan when I went into heat. Thank you. I don’t remember what happened but I think I really need to thank you.”

“It was the right thing to do,“ Soonyoung said again in a very quiet voice and Jihoon started to wonder why Soonyoung was behaving so strangely. 

“Jeonghan told me that you are reacting strongly on various alphas scents and that it’s also the case with my pheromones.“ Jihoon could barely hold himself back correcting Soonyoung. It had been clever of Jeonghan to tell him that but it felt so wrong to Jihoon. He only liked Soonyoung’s scent. There was no other alpha for him.

“It’s difficult,“ Jihoon said through clenched teeth. He couldn’t muster up the strength to say more than that. He couldn’t straight out lie to Soonyoung right now. It was impossible. 

“I see. So you wanted to talk about the case?“ Jihoon nodded, not daring to say one more word.

“There had been another murder, Jihoon.“ The omega had expected these news. When his team didn’t want to say what had happened, he had already prepared himself to hear that there had been another victim. Thinking about the previous victims, about the killer and about them being unable to catch him cleared his head up completely again. Maybe Jeonghan was right and every omega had a different way of coping with overwhelming emotions. Calming memories seemed to not have a lot of impact on Jihoon, but remembering his work did. Maybe he should try to use that in the future.

“The killer left a note.“ Jihoon was surprised hearing that. The killer had never left behind anything at the crime scene before. 

“The words had been neatly set together in red letters cut from a newspaper.“ That was very particular. Nowadays people mostly use print outs and don’t bother cutting out letters from a newspaper. Especially not red ones, because they are difficult to come by. Not many newspapers use red ink and if they use it, they only do so sparsely. 

“The note said: You can only blame yourself.“

Jihoon knew that the killer wanted to play with their minds, still he felt guilt burning deep in his gut. In a way, the murderer was right, they still couldn’t catch him, so they could only blame themselves. They made this whole thing personal with challenging him and then running like idiots into his trap. The killer knew them personally and this would get even more ugly if they wouldn’t catch him very soon.

“But I also have something positive to say. I think we found out where the killer finds his victims.” They got a lead at last and Jihoon hadn’t been there to witness it, but it wasn’t really a reason to feel disappointed. They needed to catch the killer fast, so a major lead was more than welcome. 

“How did you find out?” There was a small smile on Soonyoung’s lips and for the first time this evening Jihoon had the feeling that the alpha was a bit relaxed. It could be the result of his own emotions not running wild right now. It could be that he had a certain influence on the alpha afterall.

“Maybe you remember from the first murder case that the victim went to a support group for omegas who were abandoned by their alpha.” Jihoon clearly remembered that, because he had never heard of such groups before working on the case. As someone who lived as a beta for all his life, he couldn’t really understand what good such groups could do at that time. 

“Yes, but the second victim wasn’t part of that group.”

“That’s not true. The second victim was also part of that group, but he never wrote about it somewhere, but we checked with the group now and he really had been part of it. We found yesterday the info material of the group between some papers of the third victim. They were actually hidden quite well, but yes, that’s how we made the connection. We went there today already but we still aren’t sure how the killer is connected to the group. We have to find that out now.” 

Jihoon knew that it would still be difficult to find the murderer. They had to be very thoroughly to find him. Also it would be difficult to work together with a support group because they want to protect their members and also have the right to do it. When the members are dead then they might be cooperative but when it’s about the living they are most probably not. But each of the members was in great danger, they needed to keep them safe somehow.

“Did you try already to get a list of the members? They are in grave danger.” Soonyoung made a small discontent noise. 

“Of course we tried, but the manager of the support organisation didn’t want to give it to us. He said that he’ll talk to the members if they want to have protection, but he can’t promise us anything. Most of the members are part of such a group because they want to stay anonymous.” Jihoon sighed loudly and leaned back against the couch. If they couldn’t protect the potential victims, then they needed to find the killer fast.

“Do you want to come with me tomorrow when I’ll talk to the manager of the organisation again?” Soonyoung smiled warmly at him and Jihoon felt a tight knot forming in his chest. 

“Y-yes..” Jihoon closed his eyes and let the scent of coffee and mint wash over him. His mind swayed away from the case and concentrated solely on Soonyoung. Even with closed eyes he could only see Soonyoung smiling at him, watching him with sharp eyes that clearly hid the alphas emotions. Suddenly Jihoon wanted nothing more than to know what the alpha was thinking. He felt the other’s pheromones pulling him in again and he was too weak to resist this time.

He slowly became suffocated by Soonyoung’s pheromones. He really tried to concentrate on the case, but it became more and more unimportant to him. Soonyoung had shuffled a bit closer while talking about the case and was now so close to him that he could easily imagine the alpha pushing him back onto the couch, kissing him, touching him, biting down deep into his neck... Jihoon felt the arousal flow through him in thick waves and he immediately sprung up the couch in shock. 

“I need a glass of water,“ the omega said with an unsteady voice.

Jihoon almost run into the kitchen and looked around completely lost. He couldn’t remember where Soonyoung had stored the glasses. He didn’t remember anything, because he only could think about the alpha right now. The scent of coffee and mint was getting slowly stronger again because the other was following him into the kitchen.

“I know it’s not easy for you right now. Don’t worry, I won’t misunderstand.“ Jihoon felt so embarrassed hearing Soonyoung’s words. And at the same time, deep down he felt disappointed and angry that Soonyoung didn’t take his feelings serious. He should be just happy that Soonyoung didn’t think he had any feelings for him, but the omega in him was discontent. Maybe he was just discontent himself. He couldn’t differentiate anymore. 

He got pulled out of his thoughts when Soonyoung laid a hand on his arm. He looked up at Soonyoung and just couldn’t breathe anymore. The warmth of his touch burnt his skin and the only thing he wished was for the alpha to lay him onto the counter and take him right here. There was no way to get out of this swirl of emotions anymore. He tried to think about the case and about the day on the sailboat but it was no use. He gave completely up fighting his needs and just let everything go. He wanted Soonyoung just too much.

Jihoon’s heart was hammering in his chest seeing that Soonyoung’s eyes became slightly hazy too. He could see some of his own want reflected in the brown orbs and he felt his hands starting to shake slightly in arousal. 

“You should probably leave now.“ Soonyoung said in a deep and slightly breathless voice. The attraction he felt was skyrocketing and he wanted to tell the alpha that he didn’t want to leave. Not now or ever. But there was a small voice in Jihoon’s head that sounded a lot like Jeonghan’s that told him to pull himself together. He bit his lip hard, turned around and staggered out of Soonyoung’s flat without looking back.

He went down the hallway to his flat and when Jihoon finally pulled the door of his own flat close behind him, he felt like he could breathe again. “Well, that went well,“ he quietly said to himself.

Jihoon sat down on his couch and stared at his still slightly shaking hands. He easily remembered what had started this swirl of emotions - it was Soonyoung’s smile. It wasn’t his pheromones, but it was his warm smile that pulled at his heartstrings. It became more and more difficult for him to seriously believe that the didn’t like the alpha.

At this point only acceptance might actually help him. He was trying to fight a battle that he was doomed to lose. Maybe if he would accept his feelings for Soonyoung, it would be easier to cope with everything. His body was obviously rebelling, trying to teach him what he should do. If he would accept his feelings then his mind and body would probably calm down a bit and his reaction to Soonyoung might not be so annoyingly strong anymore.

Right now he was only a small step away from acceptance, but he still didn’t dare to cross the line. He needed something more to be completely sure. Maybe he would find that something tomorrow. Now he was just dead tired from the long day. He laid down on the couch and closed his eyes. When his thoughts drifted back to Soonyoung, he didn’t try to fight them.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon was back at the office the next morning, acting like he never had run off the day before without saying a single word to his colleagues and friends. He must have given off a very unfriendly aura, because no one dared to ask him what had happened, not even Wonwoo who normally didn’t care if Jihoon was in a bad mood or not.

Jihoon was going through a lot of paperwork since arriving at the office one hour earlier. He hadn’t seen Soonyoung once this morning and was quite thankful for it. Like this, he was able to catch up with everything he had missed out on the case without being distracted by his feelings for Soonyoung.

He had a good flow reading through the papers and only stopped when he wanted to write something down. Jihoon opened his drawer to get his notebook and saw the small pink plush cat lying on top of it. He immediately started smiling at the memory of Soonyoung giving him the present. In his head Jeonghan’s voice was ringing telling him that the way he looked at the kitchy pink plush cat didn’t lie. It dawned upon Jihoon that he wanted to see Soonyoung right now, as he had wanted many times before. He always didn’t gave it a second thought why he actually felt the need to see the other. But now it was different, because he knew why he wanted to see the other: He missed him. He missed him even though they had seen each other just yesterday evening. It was stupid, unreasonable and it could only mean one thing. He liked Soonyoung. It was as simple a that. And no fight he put up would change that. Even though it was worth it fighting against his omega biology for Jihoon, fighting feelings he most probably had the whole time felt suddenly very stupid to him. 

Jihoon didn’t get any further with his thoughts because he heard the loud clicking of high heels and an overly sweet smell started to fill his nose. It was a mixture of honey and white chocolate and he wrinkled his nose in distaste at the scent. Jihoon curiously turned his head around and saw a petite woman walking into their office - he had never seen her before. She had long hair, styled in perfect waves and a doll like face. Together with her scent it was clear that she was an omega.

Wonwoo was the first one to speak up after spotting her. “Can we help you somehow?” She gave the beta a sweet smile and leaned her head a bit to the side. 

“I’m searching for Kwon Soonyoung. An officer at the entrance told me I could find him around here.” Jihoon froze up at her words, his mind going completely blank. 

“Why are you searching for Soonyoung?” Wonwoo asked in a very neutral voice. He eyed Jihoon cautiously, probably noticing that something wasn’t right.

“We have something like a blind date.” Jihoon felt his heart cracking at the words. He had been stupid to believe that accepting his own feelings would make things easier. It didn’t make things easier at all if he had to watch Soonyoung finding another person to like, to date, to love. Devastation was creeping up on Jihoon and the omega woman was turning to him, giving him a strange look. She must have been able to pick up on his scent that he was sad and angry. And if she was able to sense it, then every other alpha and omega around would sense it too. Jihoon needed to get out of here fast.

The small officer sprung up his seat and run out of the office. Why were things never going his way? When he had just accepted one thing, another obstacle came his way. He hated the thought of Soonyoung and that woman talking and laughing together. Just imagining the two of them kissing was driving him mad. He was completely jealous and he knew it, but he couldn’t help it at all.

Jihoon sat down on a stone wall in front of the police station and tried to calm himself down a bit with breathing slowly in and out. He was so inside his head that he didn’t notice Wonwoo had been following him. “Are you okay?” Jihoon looked up and saw Wonwoo standing right in front of him with a worried look on his face. 

“Yeah, just needed some fresh air,” Jihoon lied smoothly. Wonwoo gave him a knowing look and sat down beside him.

“I’m a beta and not able to smell what’s going on with you, but I’m still your best friend and can easily see through your lies. You suddenly vanished yesterday from work without saying a word and now you are behaving strangely again.” Jihoon wasn’t sure what he should tell Wonwoo. Should he tell him the whole truth or only parts of it? Would he even be able to tell his friend the whole truth? Speaking about his feelings for Soonyoung would make everything even more real. Once spoken about it, there would be no way back anymore.

“Jihoon I’m not an idiot. What’s going on between you and Soonyoung? Something must have happened yesterday when you were in his office, because you went straight home afterwards.” Jihoon opened his mouth to start talking, but closed it immediately afterwards again. Wonwoo looked at him with worried and knowing eyes and something snapped inside of Jihoon. Wonwoo was probably already knowing what was going on and he really needed to talk about this.

“I think I like Soonyoung!!“ Jihoon nearly screamed the words at his friend, but Wonwoo didn’t even look taken aback. It was almost like he expected this reaction. “Before my omega senses kicked in, I wasn’t aware of it at all. But now it’s getting more and more difficult to ignore. Wonwoo I think I...“ 

“What is it you think?“ Wonwoo asked him gently. Jihoon hesitated for a moment speaking up again. He was about to confess something he really wished that it wasn’t true. The thought had been constantly nagging at the back on his mind, never able to shut it down completely since the moment Jeonghan had talked about it. 

„I think I‘ve liked him already at university but just ignored it because I thought I couldn’t be together with an alpha. It was easier to hate him than not being together with him.“ Wonwoo’s eyes widened slightly at Jihoon’s words, but he didn’t comment on it. He just let Jihoon go on talking. 

“When I reacted really strongly on his pheromones yesterday, I wanted to stubbornly believe it was all just my omega biology, but that was actually me being stupid. I really like him. I’m chasing after him all this time not because I want to make up for the bad time at university or because I want to be friends, no it’s because I like him. I’m dumb for him, I want him to spend his time with me, laugh with me and buy me kitchy presents. I‘m totally gone for him and never even noticed it. I’m pathetic. And I’m still so bad at controlling my feelings and pheromones and he’ll probably know everything soon.“

Wonwoo laughed quietly after Jihoon had finished his talk. “You’re not pathetic Jihoon. I actually never was sure if you liked him or not at university. It was from day one easy to see how much he liked you, but you were always hot and cold with him. Sometimes you looked completely smitten and then other days Soonyoung seemed to be nothing more than a mere annoyance to you.” Jihoon winced slightly at Wonwoo’s words. His friend was right. He could still remember the days when he was sitting close to Soonyoung, laughing with him loudly about one of the alpha’s lame jokes. But then there also had been the days when he had refused to meet up alone with the other, the days when he told him to shut up because he was too fucking annoying. The days when he had screamed at the other for merley brushing his arm slightly.

He had been afraid to let the other get too close to him. Because the closer he got, the more difficult it would have been to push the alpha away. “I never tried to closely think about what I was really feeling for Soonyoung at that time.” Wonwoo nodded at Jihoon’s words. 

“When you reacted very strongly on his advances that one fateful evening, I was pretty sure that you liked him more than you let on. It had been a bit like a self defense mechanism. I really wanted to get you to talk with him, so you two could get your things sorted out, but you were too stubborn. And do you know what? Maybe it just wasn’t the right time for the two of you.”

Jihoon felt himself tearing up slightly at Wonwoo’s words. No other words could have comforted him more in this moment. He couldn’t make his ignorance and stupidity look nice in any way, but believing that it hadn’t been the right time at university made him feel a bit better. Maybe he could live with that. He had been young, stupid and insecure at that time. He still makes stupid decisions at the age of 28, but he was a better person than at university. Maybe he could also be a better person for Soonyoung now.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you tell him about your feelings?” Wonwoo’s question caught Jihoon off guard, so he just kept on looking at his best friend with big eyes without answering his question. “You probably can’t hide your feelings forever. If you’re still not good at controlling your emotions and pheromones like you said, he‘ll figure it out soon either way. Isn’t it better if you told him personally than letting him figure it out by himself?“ Jihoon hated that Wonwoo was always right. Especially when he was telling him such an uncomfortable truth. Jihoon could either wait like a coward for Soonyoung to figure out his feelings or he could be strong and tell him about it.

“I don’t want to run away anymore,” Jihoon said in a quiet voice and Wonwoo patted him immediately on the back. 

“I think that’s the right choice. Let’s go inside again. We have work to do. Try not to worry too much about everything. I know it’s difficult for you right now, but for the time being, just think about the case and then talk later to Soonyoung.“ Jihoon knew that Wonwoo was right. He really needed to pull himself together now and do his job. He would sort out everything with Soonyoung later.

When Jihoon and Wonwoo came back into the office, Soonyoung was standing at their tables talking to Seokmin and Vernon. The omega woman was nowhere in sight. Jihoon stopped his step when Soonyoung turned around to him. The alphas gaze was heavy and Jihoon felt like he was an open book to Soonyoung. It was almost like the other could read on his scent and see it in his eyes that he liked him and that he had just run away out of jealousy like a teenager.

“Jihoon you have to keep on moving forwards.” The omega knew that his friend didn’t only mean that he had to start walking again, but that he should take a step towards Soonyoung. He needed to face him straight on and be sincere with his feelings. Jihoon prayed that he wouldn’t mess it up.

“Didn’t you want to come with me to the support group? We have to figure out fast who the killer is. The others will look through the information we already got from the support group, but I have the feeling that these documents won’t be sufficient. We need more.” Jihoon was still standing unmoving in the door while listening to Soonyoung. This was his chance to catch up on the case and maybe to talk to Soonyoung. So why couldn’t he still move? Probably because he could smell very faintly the scent of the omega woman on Soonyoung. He wanted to hit the alpha and at the same time hide in a corner.

Soonyoung looked strangely at him and started walking right to where Jihoon was standing. “Do you need to take something with you or can we go now?” The omega balled his hands into fists and then unclenched them again. He did that a few times to calm down before answering. 

“Yes, we can go now.” Soonyoung looked him into the eyes for a moment and it felt like he wanted to tell him something with it. But Jihoon had no idea what. “Let’s go.”

Jihoon grabbed his coat from the cloth rag beside the door and hurried after Soonyoung who had already left for the main entrance of the police station. They quietly walked beside each other until they reached their work car. “Do you want to drive?” Jihoon shook his head at Soonyoung’s question. Normally Jihoon always wanted to drive, but today he felt more comfortable in the passenger seat. He wanted to talk to Soonyoung about a couple of things after all.

Soonyoung shrugged and went around the car, opened the door and sat down in the driver’s seat. Jihoon had already taken his seat in the meanwhile. The alpha drove off and Jihoon started to think about what he should first say to Soonyoung. This didn’t feel like the right place to confess and he also didn’t want to talk about his feelings before knowing who that woman was and if Soonyoung really planned on dating her. A confession would be useless then. He didn’t want embarrass himself.

“What is agitating you so much, Jihoonie?” Soonyoung was not playing fair. He hadn’t called him Jihoonie once since they had been locked into the barn. Why was he using the nickname in this situation? Did he know it made the butterflies in stomach just worst? 

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

“I don’t know why you feel the need to lie to me. I thought we were on the way of being able to really talk about things to each other.” Jihoon made a sour face and looked out of the window. 

“What do I even know about you? I certainly didn’t know you go on blind dates.” Jihoon wanted to bang his head against the window. He didn’t intend to ask Soonyoung about the woman like this, but he was now constantly smelling her on the alpha in this small restricted place and he just couldn’t help it. He still felt the jealousy clenching his heart in a tight grip.

“I never went on a single blind date. My mother is obsessed with me marrying soon, so she tries to play matchmaker all the time, but I’m always refusing. She gave that woman my number, but I never picked up so she came to the police station to talk with me.” That didn’t answer anything and Jihoon felt frustrated because of it.

“Is she your type?” Jihoon felt slightly embarrassed asking that, but the need to know was bigger than anything else. 

“You should know better than anyone else that she is not my type.” Jihoon’s heart was suddenly speeding up and he was sure that Soonyoung would be able to sense his excitement. The alphas scent shifted slightly and it wrapped around Jihoon like a warm cloak.

Jihoon wanted to confess right now. He was ready for it. Ready to lay his heart bare in front of Soonyoung. It was strange how fast he went from denying all his feelings to accepting them. But since his suppressants had failed him, his feelings were on a never ending rollercoaster ride and he finally wanted to reach the end.

It came as a big disappointment to Jihoon when the car suddenly made a u-turn and Soonyoung stopped the car in front of a small white building. “We’ve arrived. Let’s get going, we have no time.” The alpha immediately left the car and Jihoon leaned back into the seat and sighed deeply. 

There would be another chance to confess, now he had to do his job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) I’m back on time haha. Wished I could have updated earlier already but I have been seriously jetlagged and couldn’t concentrate on writing. Glad that I managed to upload a new chapter at least after a week!
> 
> This chapter… I’m not sure. I don’t even have a lot to say about it. Jihoon went from denying to accepting pretty fast, but his denial was just an initial reaction. When you have to cope with so many new things and new senses and feelings, it must be overwhelming. But the show must go on, as well as the story must go on, so I didn’t want to drag out his denial unnecessarily. It’s not helping the story lol.
> 
> Next chapter… there will be happening a lot. Actually I thought I could put everything into chapter 18, but that became unreasonable long because Jihoon is thinking an annoying amount and couldn’t just decide very fast that he likes Soonyoung. So we all have to live with the fact that the interesting stuff will happen in the next chapter. There will be also a long part about the case at last!! Gonna catch that killer!
> 
> So the positive thing is that I’m planning to upload chapter 19 already on Tuesday. Wow, I really missed updating on Tuesday. I thought I could finish writing chapter 19 already yesterday but of course it didn’t work out. But I think I should be able to finish it today :D
> 
> Thanks to my beta for correcting my ugly mistakes hehe <3
> 
> And thank you for reading!!!! The story is at over 500 kudos and I’m at tears. Masked Kingdom never managed to get that much so I’m very shocked that so many people like this story, bookmark it and subscribe it. I love you T_T <3
> 
> See you soon! You can follow me like always on Twitter for updates on the story [Twitter](http://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel)


	19. A Sincere Heart

Jihoon and Soonyoung walked quietly into the building of the support group and were greeted by a middle-aged man, maybe around 30, sitting at a table close to the entrance. “Team leader Kwon, you are early,” he said while a smile was plastered on his face but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. He seemed to be unnerved by their sudden appearance.

“People are losing their lives. We have to find the offender as soon as possible. Did you reach all the members of the support group? Did they all agree to get protection from the police?” The manager shrugged slightly and Jihoon couldn’t help but feeling annoyed at the manager‘s behavior. Didn’t he understand how grave the situation was?

“Yes, I talked to all of them, but two members are refusing to work together with the police. They want to stay anonymous.” Now they were in big trouble. The killer could still go after these two persons, so their situation wasn’t any better than before. They couldn’t force the two members to work together with the police and the only thing they could do now was catch the killer fast.

“Okay, we can do nothing about it, but I would like it if you could try talking one more time to these two people. Their lives are in grave danger.” The manager nodded hearing Soonyoung’s words, but didn’t comment on it, so Soonyoung just started talking once more. 

“Did you think again about people working here who are in any way suspicious? Or just people who come into your building from time to time?”

The manager looked onto a piece of paper lying on the desk in front of him with a blank look on his face. “Like I told you already yesterday, I only work together with two omega doctors, who are doing this voluntary. And then there are the cleaners, but I already gave you the name of the company I’m having a contract with. Besides these people and the members of the groups I really can’t think about anyone else. Some months ago we had a handyman here because the aircon wasn’t working, but I never saw him again.”

Jihoon was in deep thoughts while listening to the manager. All the people he mentioned didn’t fit the profile. The manager must have forgotten about someone. There must be…

“The surveillance cameras!!” Jihoon suddenly half screamed and the manager winced at the officers outburst. “You have one inside and one outside the building. I saw it while entering.”

“Yes, it’s for the safety of our members. We had them installed at the beginning of the year. But now that you mention it, we had trouble with the surveillance cameras a few times. The boss of the company that installed the cameras came personally to check up on them. It’s only a small company and the boss still does these things from time to time. He started off as a normal worker, I think.” Bingo. He fit the profile perfectly and it made a lot of sense that he was the boss of a surveillance company. Jihoon had been wondering how he had been monitoring them when he lured them into the trap. He could have installed cameras himself or maybe even hacked into cameras - with insider knowledge it would be possible.

“Could you tell us the name of the company?” The manager got up from his seat and walked over to a shelf and searched through some papers. He pulled a business card out and handed it over to Soonyoung. 

“Here, that’s his business card. If you would excuse me now, I have things to do.”

“Yes, of course. Excuse us for taking up your time.” Soonyoung and Jihoon turned around and had already reached the door when Soonyoung turned back again. “Please try to talk to the two members one more time. They really need protection from the police.” 

Jihoon followed Soonyoung outside and couldn’t help staring at the alpha. Now that Jihoon wasn’t concentrating on the case anymore he noticed how Soonyoung’s pheromones were giving off a very dominant feeling. It was sexy.

Jihoon stopped walking at his own thoughts. He shouldn’t go there now, this really wasn’t the time for it. He hurried to the car, because Soonyoung was already opening the driver’s door. As soon as Jihoon sat down, he started talking. If he wouldn’t talk about the case, he would just think about Soonyoung again the whole time and he really didn’t need that right now.

“That guy must be the killer. He fits the profile and it makes sense that he’s the boss of a surveillance company. It would be easy for such a guy to lure us into a trap and watching us the whole time.” Soonyoung nodded his head and let out a deep breath. His pheromones were suddenly gentler again and Jihoon felt very relieved because the Soonyoung from before would have been difficult to deal with, but with a gentler Soonyoung he might be able to contain himself.

“Yes, I think so too. The problem is, that we can’t just go to his company and arrest him. We have nothing against him. First of all we should do a background check and then we need to talk to people around him, but I think everything will be very tricky. He seems to be obsessed with surveillance, so he probably has cameras everywhere. He’ll know what we are doing. I mean, he probably watched us also talking to the manager just now.” Jihoon shuddered slightly. Imagining the killer watching them was very creepy.

If that guy really was the killer, he would be difficult to catch. They would need to watch out for surveillance cameras now everywhere. Maybe even at the police station and close to their homes. They probably were nowhere safe from the killer‘s eyes.

“And if we just go and talk to him? What can he do? I hate to search for information quietly. Sometimes it’s just better to confront a suspect straight ahead. He probably knows what we are doing already, so there is no need to hide.” Soonyoung was quiet for a while, obviously considering what Jihoon had just told him.

“But what help would it be? We have nothing against him at this point. We don’t know why he is murdering all these people. If we talk to him, we need to know him better. That guy is clever, we would get nothing out of him just like this.” Jihoon couldn’t argue with that. He really wanted to talk with the suspect and arrest him as soon as possible but without knowing a single thing about him, they wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything. The murderer would just laugh at them and kill another person. They couldn’t risk that.

“You’re right. We need to know some facts about the boss of the surveillance company and then we can go and talk to him.” Soonyoung smiled slightly at Jihoon’s words. 

“Good that we are agreeing on that.” The thought of ‘I would agree on anything you say when you smile like that’ went through Jihoon’s head and he was angry at himself for being so annoyingly smitten with the alpha. Stupid omega brain that comes up with the most corny lines. In all his relationship he had been in before, he never had been thinking stuff like that. His omega biology must be really messing with him.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Back at the police station the whole team sat together and brainstormed how to proceed with the case. First of all they made the normal background check, but nothing suspicious came up. Min Jaeho, 30 years old, alpha, no registered bonding, no police record. Both of his parents were already dead, natural death was written as cause of death. He had no siblings.

No family meant for the team, no one to ask about the suspect. “It’s too dangerous to talk to the neighbours. He has surveillance cameras installed around his flat for sure,” Wonwoo said and the other’s of the team nodded at his words.

“Yes and he’s probably a secretive guy. His neighbours might not even know him,” Seokmin quickly added and everyone was at a loss for words for a moment. Jihoon looked annoyed at his team members, they needed to talk to someone close to the suspect without alarming him. He could only think of a certain group of people. 

“We need to talk to one of the workers at his company.”

Soonyoung got up from his chair and started walking around the room hearing Jihoon’s words. “We don’t know how loyal his workers are. They might tell him that the police called, but it’s probably our best shot. If he really is a pathological narcissist, the possibility is high that he’s not a very nice boss,” the alpha said and Jihoon tried to sense the profiler’s mood but there was nothing he could pick up. Soonyoung’s scent of coffee and mint was very lowkey at the moment and Jihoon wished he would be just as good at hiding his emotions. Vernon’s scent on the other hand was flickering slightly and Jihoon guessed the cause was uneasiness or slight anxiousness. Jihoon couldn’t blame him. They most probably knew who the killer was but had no way to arrest him.

“I’ll go and ask Chungho to find out the telephone numbers of the people working at the surveillance company. I’ll be back soon.” Seokmin run off and Jihoon leaned back in his chair, looking at the clock on the wall. It was noon and he felt a bit hungry, but at the same time he didn’t feel like eating. As long as they had nothing in their hands against the killer, he didn’t want to waste his time with something as unimportant as eating.

“I’ll go and get us something to eat. We can work better when we are not hungry.” Jihoon looked at Soonyoung and wondered if the alpha could also sense that he was hungry. He hoped not, because that would be ridiculous. Jihoon considered for a moment to offer their team leader to go together, but decided against it in the end. He preferred staying at the police station and look through some papers in the meantime. He didn’t want to get all mushy again while being around Soonyoung.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The day went by very unsuccessfully. It turned out that the surveillance company was indeed very small and had only two workers beside the boss. The officers tried to reach them for hours on their cellphones but couldn’t get through to either of them. After 7PM one of them picked up at last and explained that he couldn’t take calls while working. He also explained that his co-worker was on holidays in Japan, so they wouldn’t reach him right now. Soonyoung who made the call asked him about his boss afterwards, but the guy more or less hung up on him, saying that he had to pick up his child from kindergarten now. At least he was willed to meet up with them tomorrow at 8AM before his work starts to talk about his boss. He also promised to not tell his boss about the phone call.

Jihoon felt unhappy that they had to go home with nothing. They did a background check on the worker, because there wasn’t anything else they could do. He had a four years old daughter and his wife had died in a car crash one year ago. It explained why he couldn’t meet them immediately - his daughter was the most important to him. And even though Jihoon felt frustrated, he could understand the man’s decision. Now they could do nothing else than wait until tomorrow and hope that the killer wouldn’t kill another person.

The whole team went home a bit after 9PM and when Jihoon got out of his car in the underground parking lot of his apartment complex, he saw Soonyoung getting off his own car at the same time. Now that nothing was left he could do about the case, he allowed his mind to go back to his plan of confessing to Soonyoung. His feelings were immediately bubbling up strongly again and Jihoon let them wash over him while picking up Soonyoung’s enticing scent.

He still wanted to confess. Nothing had changed since morning. He still wanted to talk with Soonyoung about his feelings and correct what Jeonghan had told him. Jihoon didn’t like various alphas scent but only Soonyoung’s. He needed to get it out of his system fast.

Jihoon knew of the possibility that Soonyoung could straight out reject his feelings. He didn’t really want to think about that possibility but he tried to prepare his heart for it. Still he hoped that Soonyoung could accept his feelings in some way. He didn’t expect the other to confess his undying love for him, the alpha was much too guarded for that. He just wanted a chance at becoming more than friends, a chance to be close to him. He wanted to go on kitchy dates and look if they fit together. Jihoon’s biggest hope was that the feelings Soonyoung had years ago for him were still hidden somewhere in the other’s heart. Maybe it even was his only hope.

The omega suddenly noticed that Soonyoung had already gone to the elevator and was in the middle of going inside. Jihoon started sprinting and jumped into the elevator right before the doors closed. Soonyoung chuckled and Jihoon couldn’t help feeling slightly embarrassed about the situation. “In a hurry to get home?” The alpha asked him, but Jihoon chose not to answer. Afterall he had been in a hurry to catch up with Soonyoung and he didn’t want to explain that to the other right now.

The two officers got off on their floor and Soonyoung looked at Jihoon and gave him a small smile. “Good night then Jihoon.” Soonyoung turned around and started opening his door. 

Jihoon didn’t want to wait anymore, not even one more night. He needed to get the weight of his secret feelings off his shoulders. “Can I come in for a moment? I have something to tell you.” Soonyoung turned around to Jihoon, a puzzled look on his face. 

“Yes, why not.”

Soonyoung opened the door and Jihoon followed him inside. Instead of going over to the couch like he normally did, he just stood rooted close to the door. Soonyoung also didn’t move away and waited for the other to start talking.

Jihoon’s heart was racing and he felt close to fainting. Never in his life he had confessed to someone before. He didn’t know how to do it. All his relationships had started with his partner asking him out, it never had been Jihoon. Now he wished that he had at least some experience in confessing. Maybe he would be a bit less nervous then. Jihoon took a deep breath and stopped overthinking, because it wasn’t leading anywhere. This was a matter of the heart after all, thinking wasn’t useful in this situation.

“What Jeonghan told you yesterday was not entirely true. I don’t react to various alphas scent. I only react to your scent.“ Jihoon sounded brave while talking even though he almost couldn’t hear his own words because his heartbeat was resounding so loudly in his ears. He was biting onto his lip nervously and drummed his fingers against the material of his pants. This situation was more nerve wracking than going after an armed criminal.

Jihoon took a step closer to Soonyoung and finally let go of all his worries. He needed and wanted to tell the other and now was the right time. 

“I like you Soonyoung.“ Jihoon’s heart was still beating wildly in his chest while he waited for a reaction of the alpha.

Jihoon saw how the Soonyoung paled slightly and his eyes widened in shock. His pheromones pulled back from Jihoon and the omega immediately knew what it meant: This might not end positive for him. But it was too late to stop now. 

“I like you Soonyoung,” he repeated and the alpha took a big step back from him.

“No, your hormones are just out of control. You don’t really like me.“ Jihoon gave the alpha a hard look. That wasn’t a reaction he had expected. Rejection unfortunately had been one of the reactions he had expected, but he didn’t expect the other to not believe him. 

“Are you telling me now that I don’t know what I‘m feeling? Since I’m not taking the suppressants anymore I can’t lie to myself. Believe me when I say that I really tried to convince myself that I don’t like you, but in the end I was just trying to run away and close my eyes from the truth. I like you so much it hurts Soonyoung. My whole body, every fiber of my being longs for you. It’s driving me insane. Even at university it had only been you but I didn’t know because of the suppressants and because I believed I could never be together with an alpha. I was an idiot and turned my feelings into hate. But I can’t ignore it anymore. I like you too much.“ Saying all of this felt so good to Jihoon. Finally being sincere while laying his heart bare to Soonyoung was an amazing feeling.

Jihoon’s giddiness stopped abruptly when he saw the blank look on Soonyoung’s face. His eyes were hard and cold. “I’m sorry Jihoon. I don’t feel the same way about you. I still think you are only confused now that your omega biology is taking over. You didn’t like me at university and you don’t like me now - and neither do I. I‘ll just forget what you told me.“ Every word that left Soonyoung’s mouth felt like a deep stab into Jihoon’s heart. The omega didn’t know it was possible that a heart could hurt so much. Even after Soonyoung had finished talking he still felt like a knife was stuck in his chest.

Jihoon felt tears welling up in his eyes and knew he had to get out of here now or he would have a break down right in front of Soonyoung. His pride wouldn’t be able to take that. He turned around and hurried out of the alphas flat and over to his own. 

He hastily opened the door and as soon as he got inside he started shaking like a leaf. He felt like his chest and heart had been cut open. It got harder and harder to breathe because his lungs were burning so much. Jihoon sunk to the floor and took harsh breaths while the words of Soonyoung were resounding in his head again and again. “I don’t feel the same way.“ Jihoon began crying, sobbing loudly in the quiet room. He couldn’t live like this. He had failed as an omega. The thought was crawling at his heart and mind and ripped him slowly apart. He wasn’t good enough. He was a failure. Failure.

Jihoon felt like he was close to losing his mind completely and only one person might be able to help him right now. He got his phone with shaking hands out of his pants and called Jeonghan. When the older one picked up, Jihoon couldn’t get a word out, but just loudly cried into the phone. 

“Jihoonie? What’s wrong? Jihoon? I’m coming over okay? Just wait a minute.“ Jihoon let the phone fall down to the floor. He just couldn’t calm down. It hurt too much.

The doorbell was ringing only a minute later and Jihoon crawled over to the door and opened it somehow. Jeonghan looked out of his mind seeing his friend crying so hard. “Oh my god what happened?” Jeonghan sat down on the floor beside Jihoon and took the shaking omega into his arms.

“Soonyoung… Soonyoung said he… doesn’t want me.” Jihoon started crying even harder and sobbed into Jeonghan’s shirt. He cried for a while and took a couple of breaths and started talking again.

"He doesn’t want me and it’s all my fault. I rejected him at university! Of course he wouldn’t want me." Jeonghan hugged Jihoon tightly and tried to calm him down with patting him on the back but it didn’t work. The younger was still crying and trembling. 

“And there is even more hyung.“ Jihoon’s voice was tear strained and shaky. “If you hear this you‘ll also hate me.“ Jeonghan was shushing Jihoon while hugging him tighter. 

“I won’t hate you. Soonyoung doesn’t hate you either.“ Jihoon escaped a loud sob at the mention of Soonyoung’s name.

“I told Soonyoung that I liked Seungcheol-hyung at university. Why did I do that? I refused him but liked Seungcheol-hyung. Why? Why? I didn’t even like hyung the way I like Soonyoung. It just had been a crush for a short while, but he must think I’m only playing with him. He hates me hyung!!“ Jihoon didn’t even know what he was talking about. Everything hidden deep in his heart was coming to the surface and he couldn’t control his words and mind. 

Jihoon was breathing harshly and Jeonghan pushed him slightly out of the embrace to look at him. “Jihoonie, you have to calm down. You’re almost hyperventilating. Please, take deep breaths. No one hates you. You’ll be fine. I‘ll help you. We can get through this.“

Jihoon tried to take some deep breaths like the older had told him and he finally started to breathe more normal again but he was still shaking and crying. “Everything will be fine Jihoonie. You’ll get through this. It’s just your biology that can’t take the rejection. It will get better after a while.“ Jihoon shook his head at Jeonghan’s words. 

“I feel like dying. I can’t go on like this.“ Jeonghan took Jihoon’s face in his hands and gave him a stern look. 

“You are strong. You’ll survive this. It just hurts like this right now. You won‘t die from this.“ Jihoon hiccuped slightly from the constant crying. He fell tiredly into Jeonghan‘s arms and didn’t move anymore. 

“Just let me die. I’m a failure.“ The crying started again and Jeonghan kept on trying to calm the other omega down, but nothing really worked.

The doorbell suddenly rang, but Jihoon didn’t really notice it. Jeonghan pulled away from Jihoon and got up from the floor to open the door. It was Soonyoung. Jihoon smelt the scent of coffee and mint immediately and the devastation just got bigger. 

“I can help Jihoon,“ Jihoon heard Soonyoung say and he clutched at his shirt where his heart was painfully. 

“First you reject him and now you come here to do what? He’s out of his mind Soonyoung! You coming here and seeing him like this is humiliating to Jihoon. Go away.“ 

“No, I can help him,“ Soonyoung’s voice was calm and beautiful. Normally Jihoon loved listening to Soonyoung but right now it made him feel horrible. It was the same voice that had told him he didn’t feel the same way. The same voice that said Jihoon’s feelings weren’t real. 

“We’ll manage alone. Just go home!“ Soonyoung pushed Jeonghan aside, walked into the flat and immediately crouched down beside the shaking and crying omega. 

“Hey Jihoonie,“ he said gently and Jihoon let out another loud sob. He should feel humiliated at the alpha seeing him like this, but he was too much out of his mind in that moment. Nothing was important anymore. “It’s okay, I’ll help you. This is my fault after all.“ Soonyoung took Jihoon’s shaking form into his arms and lifted him up. The omega immediately leaned against him, curling into the alphas body. The calming scent of coffee and mint filled Jihoon’s senses and he slowly started to breath evenly again. All the heavy feelings were leaving his mind and only peace was left behind. This was what he wanted - to feel protected and loved. Only his alpha could give him that. 

Soonyoung laid the omega onto the couch and softly brushed the hair out of his face. “I‘ll stay with you Jihoonie. Sleep a bit for now.“ The omega rolled into fetal position and closed his eyes in utter exhaustion. Jihoon felt the alpha getting up from the couch but was much too relaxed to bother at that moment.

“Are you crazy??? You influenced him with your pheromones!!!“ Jihoon could still hear Soonyoung and Jeonghan talking, but his mind was starting to drift away. 

“Shhh, Jihoon is almost asleep. It’s better like this.“ 

“Better? You’re an asshole Kwon Soonyoung. You ripped his heart apart! You’re not doing him any good by doing that.“ The voices were only like a far away memory and Jihoon finally fell asleep to the voice of Soonyoung. 

“I know, I just wanted to help. I never intended to hurt him so much.“

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon felt disoriented when he woke up. His heart hurt and he was gravely exhausted. “How are you feeling?“ He heard Jeonghan’s voice asking and slowly opened his eyes and saw his hyung sitting at the side of his bed. It felt a bit like a deja vu. But this time the other wasn’t here because he went into heat. He was here because Jihoon got rejected by Soonyoung. The omega wished he couldn’t remember it the same way he couldn’t remember his heat, but unfortunately he remembered everything all too well.

“I feel empty. Like my heart is missing from my body,“ Jihoon said and closed his eyes again. He was so tired and sad. 

“It will get better. Rejection is never easy for an omega if your feelings are that strong but I guarantee you that you won’t die from it. That could only happen if you were mated.“ Jihoon couldn’t feel happy about Jeonghan‘s words. He just felt devastated and that horrible feeling was weighing him down. He wanted to stay in bed and never get up again. 

“Do you remember what happened yesterday Jihoonie?” The question seemed strange to Jihoon at first, but it suddenly hit him what Jeonghan was implying. 

“Yeah, Soonyoung came to my flat. But my memory of that time is kind of fuzzy. I think he said that he wanted to help me? And… and I think you were very angry. You told him that he’s crazy for influencing me with his pheromones or something like that.” Now that these memories came back, Jihoon couldn’t help feeling even worse. First he got rejected and then the one who rejected him had to help him calm down.

“He manipulated you. He shouldn’t have done that! You have every right to be angry.“ Jihoon let out a tired laugh at Jeonghan’s words. 

“I‘m not angry, I‘m just sad.” Jeonghan gave him a pitiful look and Jihoon just wanted to crawl under the blanket and stop talking about yesterday already.

“Jihoonie you have to listen closely to me, okay? You can‘t hide yourself away now. You need to pull yourself together and go back to work. If you don’t do this, everything will just get worse and you’ll end up hating yourself for not doing your job. You still have a killer to catch.“ Jihoon suddenly felt panic rising up in him and he sat a bit straighter up in bed. How should he look Soonyoung in the eye after yesterday? Yes, he half expected getting rejected and he shouldn’t feel so bad about it, but he couldn’t help it. His body and mind was refusing to work properly, the pain of rejection still too fresh, rushing like poison through his body.

“I can’t work with him, hyung. I can’t.“ He tiredly shook his head and leaned back on the bed again. Jeonghan immediately crawled closer to him and pulled him up on his shirt.

“Yes you can! Even if he rejected you, you are still friends. He doesn’t hate you and you shouldn’t be ashamed of your feelings!“ Jeonghan was right. He needed to do his job and therefore he couldn’t avoid talking to Soonyoung forever. It was either losing his job or dealing with his broken heart.

“Okay, I‘ll try,“ Jihoon mumbled quietly. 

The knife of Soonyoung’s rejection was still stuck deep in his heart and he knew that the pain wouldn't stop any time soon. Seeing Soonyoung again might make everything even more painful, but he had nothing to lose anymore. He already had been rejected and it couldn’t get worse than this. He had to live with the pain and needed to start forgetting about Soonyoung slowly. It probably would be a long process because he had hidden away his feelings for such a long time and he just had so many feelings for the alpha. But one day the rejection would hopefully turn into a small scar on his heart that didn’t hurt Jihoon anymore. Hopefully one day he would be able to smile again - maybe even together with Soonyoung.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) First of all… I’m sorry. This hurt me too. A lot. I really needed much more time than expected to write this chapter, because it was just difficult for me to write. I had parts of this chapter already written months ago, so it’s pretty much one of the main events I planned since the beginning.
> 
> Now we’ll go back to Soonyoung’s pov in the next chapter and will see finally what he is thinking. I only started writing a bit of this chapter yesterday and even for me it’s interesting!
> 
> I’m not quite sure when I’ll update next. I might manage to update on Saturday again, but I can’t promise anything. I can only promise that I’ll update latest next Tuesday… right, today is not Tuesday. I’m in a bit of a bad mood and felt like updating already today. I guess you don’t mind haha
> 
> Thanks to my beta for reading like always <3
> 
> And oh my god, thanks for so many comments and kudos on the last chapter. It almost made me cry. I think I’ve never gotten that many comments for a chapter before. Ao3 isn’t really known for many comments, so I’m very very thankful. Still no one should feel pressured to write comments. I’m just happy if you enjoy the story. (though this chapter might not have been that enjoyable, because it's sad. I’m also still SAD. BYE SOONYOUNG!!)
> 
> See you soon! You can like always follow me on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel) for updates ^^


	20. Scent of a Broken Heart

Soonyoung didn’t want to get up from bed. He normally never had problems with getting up. The alarm went off and he got up immediately to get ready for work, because nothing was more important to him than his work. He had always been fully able to concentrate on his work, because he had no relationship and no friendship and didn’t need to waste time on them.

That was the reason why he had tried not getting close to Jihoon. He knew that everything would change if he would start getting friendly with other people again. Things would get messy and he would end up wasting his time on thinking about what to do and how to behave. He would go back to being like his dumb and useless younger self. His dumb and useless younger self who wanted to be different, but didn’t have the courage to fight for it. His dumb and useless younger self who had been so much in love, but let himself be easily pushed away. He had given up long ago in human relationships the same way he had given up fighting for what he wanted. After all, the people close to him had never wanted him to be the way he really was. 

After he came to terms with his role in life, everything had been easy. He did his job, worked hard and a certain goal was set at the end of everything. There was nothing to worry about, because every day was just the same. But now things have changed.

Soonyoung didn’t have the will to get up, because he didn’t want to deal with the mess that was waiting for him at work. He didn’t want to deal with behaving like everything was okay after Jihoon’s confession, after seeing Jihoon cry heavily, because he had rejected the other like a bastard. It had never been his intention to hurt the omega so deeply.

He still couldn’t forget the scent of burnt peonies, all the devastation and sadness the scent gave off. Soonyoung had often smelled deep devastation when talking to the family of a murder victim. But it was the first time in his life that he had been the reason for that devastated scent and it had almost killed him. Especially because it had been Jihoon, the only person he had ever been deeply in love with.

Thinking about it now, Soonyoung should have seen the confession coming. He shouldn’t have been so dumb to blindly believe what Jeonghan had told him after Jihoon came to his office. After he had smelled that heavenly scent that was Jihoon’s pheromones for the first time while being not in heat.

The attraction hit him instantly at that time. It was like the heady feeling you get when you walk into a perfume shop. You get totally knocked out by the smell, not able to concentrate anymore, barely able to breathe. It was the exact same thing, but while Soonyoung naturally hated going into a perfume shop, because it was too much for his senses to handle, he loved being surrounded by Jihoon’s scent. It suffocated him in a positive way and allured him constantly.

Still the scent wasn’t as potent and overly sweet as it had been when Jihoon had gone into heat, so Soonyoung was able to control himself quite well in front of the omega. The same couldn’t be said for Jihoon. His pheromones had flared out and he had looked at him with so much want in his eyes that Soonyoung hadn’t been sure anymore if his heat had really ended or not.

After Jihoon had fled from his office, Soonyoung didn’t know what to make out of the situation. Luckily, or so he thought, Jeonghan had visited him soon and explained to him why Jihoon had reacted that way. It made sense that a newly presented omega would go crazy over various alphas scent, but he should have known better after Jihoon came to him in the evening to talk about the case and things went crazy once more. He should have known better that an omega wouldn’t produce so many alluring pheromones just for any alpha. But maybe he didn’t want to see it or he couldn’t because Soonyoung himself had been barely able to hold back that evening. Jihoon’s scent was driving him mad. He didn’t know how many more times he would be able to hold back when Jihoon kept on alluring him like that. He was good at keeping himself in check, but at the end of the day he was just an alpha like all the others - at one point he would snap.

But before that could happen, everything had already broken apart yesterday evening. It had been a long day at work and Soonyoung had been tired and annoyed when he arrived at home. He should have noticed immediately what was going on when Jihoon said that he needed to tell him something. Soonyoung had been able to smell the nervousness on Jihoon, the hopefulness and the allure, but he had brushed it aside like he always did when feelings were getting too deep and troublesome. That was the reason why Jihoon’s confession had hit him completely out of the blue.

Soonyoung could have sensed it coming if he would have analysed Jihoon’s scent closer, if he would have paid more attention to Jihoon looking at him with gleaming eyes, if he would have considered for a longer time why Jihoon was chasing after him and why it was totally fine for the other to have physical contact with him, why he even had subconsciously scented him. There had been many signs, but he had closed his eyes willingly.

Now Soonyoung had to pay the price for always looking away. He had been so surprised by Jihoon’s confession that he had coldly rejected him. His mind had been a mess and a clear rejection was the most logical and easiest for him. But the moment Jihoon’s scent became a burnt mess, he knew that he had made a mistake. He could have made it easier on Jihoon and didn’t need to be such a bastard about it. Most of all he shouldn’t have doubted the other’s feelings, because Jihoon’s strong reaction to the rejection made it clear that his feelings were real.

The scent of a distressed omega had been hanging heavily in the air even long after Jihoon had left his flat and it made Soonyoung almost go insane. Before his mind had even caught up, his legs had already brought him over to Jihoon’s flat where he saw something even worse than the omegas devastated scent. Jihoon had been completely out of his mind crying heavily while sitting on the floor of his living room. He was shaking and gasping for air and it almost looked like he would stop breathing any second. Jihoon shouldn’t be in such pain. Ever.

Soonyoung had completely panicked on the inside and the only thing on his mind had been calming the other down. He knew that Jeonghan was right, first rejecting him and then influencing him with his pheromones to calm down was alpha-asshole-behavior, but he hadn’t been able to control what he was doing at that point. Jihoon’s scent of complete devastation made his brain stop working and his alpha biology took over. He wasn’t sure though, if he wouldn’t have done the same in a clear state of mind...

Soonyoung looked at the clock and saw that it was almost 7AM. He had to get ready now or he wouldn’t make it in time to meet up with the worker of the surveillance company at 8AM. Yesterday he had agreed on meeting there with Jihoon to do the questioning together, but after what had happened, the alpha was sure that Jihoon wouldn’t turn up. He couldn’t even blame him for it. Still, it was important that at least Soonyoung would arrive there on time with Jihoon not going to the meeting. They needed to catch the killer as soon as possible and his personal problems had no priority when a person’s life was in danger.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung arrived 10 minutes early at the coffee shop they had agreed on meeting at. Soonyoung had chosen a neutral place inside, so they wouldn’t have problems with surveillance cameras. He bought a caramel latte macchiato and sat down at one of the tables. He had never gotten used to drinking coffee without milk and sugar and many people had laughed about it throughout his life considering that his scent was based on coffee. But to Soonyoung it didn’t matter all that much. An alphas or omegas own scent was a lot less noticeable to them than the scent of another person. Maybe because alphas and omegas were always surrounded by their own scent or maybe because it could neither be alluring nor threatening to one’s self. The scent was just there, almost not noticeable.

Soonyoung laid a newspaper on the table and stared at the door. No other guest was at the coffee shop right now and he had anticipated that, because he came frequently to this place when he was still working in the profiler team. Still the worker from the surveillance company and him had agreed on lying a newspaper on the table to make it easier to find each other.

There was a loud bang coming from the kitchen and Soonyoung turned around to see what was happening. Only seconds later the door to the coffee shop opened and the alpha froze up in shock. The scent of peonies and raspberry was unmistakable. He hadn’t expected Jihoon to come here. He hadn’t prepared anything to say to the other, so he was at a loss for what he should do.

“Good morning.” Jihoon’s voice was low and tired. Soonyoung turned around finally and looked at the other only to see the omega taking a seat while looking away from him. It was awkward. Soonyoung had nothing to say and it made him anxious that Jihoon’s scent was still layered with devastation and sadness. 

“He should be here any minute,” Soonyoung told the omega, but Jihoon still didn’t lift his head up to look at him and it was painful. Soonyoung wasn’t sure what exactly was painful though. Was it painful seeing Jihoon like this? Was it painful being the reason that the omega was hurting? Or was it the realization that their whole relationship, their friendship had crumbled down into nothingness? Soonyoung had fought very long against the friendship with Jihoon, but now that he saw it lying in broken pieces in front of him, he couldn’t help feeling sad about it. Jihoon had been his only friend. Soonyoung felt immediately bitter at his own thoughts. This mess was exactly the reason why he didn’t need friends. Everything just came crumbling down one day and he would be left alone with his confused feelings.

The door opened once again and a middle-aged man came into the coffee shop. Soonyoung got up from his seat and waved the man over. He came with big steps to their table and sat down on one of the empty chairs. “What is this all about? What did my boss do?” Soonyoung liked the man already. He wasn’t one to beat around the bush, but said exactly what was on his mind. It would make the questioning a lot easier.

“First of all thank you for taking the time to come here. This is very important. Can I ask you some questions about your boss first before answering your question?” The man nodded and Soonyoung took it as a yes to keep on talking. 

“How is your relationship to your boss?” The man shrugged slightly. 

“Neither good and neither bad, but if I had to decide on one of the two, then I would say more on the bad side. I have been working since three years already for him and he was throwing more tantrums in that time than we had clients. He’s a difficult person, arrogant and loud. But he pays good money and I quite like my job. I’m good with electronics, you know? So I don’t want to complain too much.”

Min Jaeho’s characteristics all seemed to fit the profile of the killer. But a profile was just a profile and they needed more than that. “Is your boss in a relationship?” The man was quiet for a while before speaking up again. 

“That’s actually a good question. If you would have asked me that in the last year, then I would have said yes, but now I’m not really sure. An omega was visiting sometimes our company to see the boss. He told me that they were living together, but I haven’t seen him… for over a year, I think.” 

Soonyoung didn’t have a good feeling about this. “Do you know his name by chance?” The man nodded again his head and Soonyoung felt relief wash over him. That was exactly the information they needed. 

“His name is Park Joowon. I talked to him a couple of times. He told me once that both of his parents were deceased and that he had no siblings, so our boss was his only family. I think he even quit his job in a kindergarten for the boss.” That was more than enough information, they could easily work with that. 

“Thank you very much, these information are very helpful to us.”

The man gave Soonyoung a questioning look. “What is this all about?” Soonyoung couldn’t give him details, because it would be too dangerous, but not saying anything wasn’t an option after asking the man to come here. 

“Your boss might be involved in a case we are working at. That’s why we need some information about him. We’ll question him later too, but before we do that, we would like to ask for your cooperation and not tell him about this conversation.” The man nodded shortly and got up from his seat. 

“I believe we are finished then? I have to go now or I’ll be late for work and my boss will get suspicious. I’m never late for work.” Soonyoung got up too and bowed slightly. 

“Thank you very much for your cooperation and understanding.” The man bowed and left the coffee shop quickly. Soonyoung turned around now to look at Jihoon who was still sitting unmoving on his seat. He hadn’t said a single word the whole time, which was very untypical for him.

“Let’s go to the police station. We should do a background check on Park Joowon.” Jihoon got up from his seat and walked out of the store with neither answering or looking at Soonyoung. The alpha followed him quickly and caught up with Jihoon on the street. 

“Jihoon, we need to talk to each other while working together.” Jihoon turned around and looked for the first time this morning at Soonyoung. The pain was so obvious in his eyes that it left the alpha feeling slightly sick. 

“He killed him. I’m sure that he killed him.”

Soonyoung wasn’t sure if he should just play along and not mention what had happened yesterday or say something about it after all. Not saying anything wouldn’t resolve the mess they were in. Maybe he should at least apologize for what had happened. 

“Jihoon, yesterday I…” The omegas pheromones started smelling strongly burnt at once when Soonyoung mentioned the previous day. Soonyoung stopped talking at once and took a step back. 

“Don’t talk about it. I don’t want to talk about you rejecting me. I don’t want to hear that you are sorry and I don’t want to hear that everything will be alright. People keep on telling me that everything will be alright lately, but nothing ever is alright!” Soonyoung kept quiet at Jihoon’s words. If the other didn’t want to talk about it, then he had no right to force him.

“I’ll go to my car then. We’ll see each other at work.” Jihoon didn’t answer him once more and just turned around and walked into the other direction. Soonyoung wasn’t sure how long they would be able to work together like this. Jihoon was correct, absolutely nothing was alright.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

At the police station Soonyoung went at once to his team’s office. Jihoon had already arrived and stared blankly at his table. Vernon looked worriedly at him and Soonyoung wasn’t surprised about it. Sadness was still radiating off the omega and Vernon could probably sense it, but at least it wasn’t as strong as it had been earlier. Jihoon tried obviously very hard to contain himself. Soonyoung exhaled once loudly and walked finally over to his team’s tables.

“Good morning, we have work to do. The boss of the surveillance company had a partner, who hadn’t been seen since about one year ago by the worker of the surveillance company. His name is Park Joowon and he worked as a kindergarten teacher. Both of his parents are dead and he has no siblings. We need information on him right now.” Jihoon looked up when Soonyoung had finished talking and gave him a cold look.

“He killed him. I’m sure of it.” Soonyoung was at a loss of words, because he didn’t know how to deal with Jihoon anymore. His assumption was reasonable. Soonyoung himself had thought about the same thing, but right now they needed to do a background check and search for facts. It wasn’t the time to make assumptions in front of the whole team. Jihoon knew that, but either he didn’t care about it or was doing it on purpose, Soonyoung wasn’t sure.

Wonwoo started typing quickly on his computer and Soonyoung waited until he came up with a result. Wonwoo was the fastest in searching for data, all of them knew that. “I found him,” Wonwoo said finally after 10 minutes of searching. Everyone, with the exception of Jihoon, went to stand behind Wonwoo and stared at the computer screen. 

“Park Joowon, 28 years old, father died when he was eight years old in an accident at work and his mother died a natrual death when he was 16. There is one really interesting fact written here. He registered a bond when he was 19 and that bond was broken when he was 24 years old.”

Breaking a bond was a very rare thing to do. It left the omega in a broken state of mind behind most of the time, even when she or he agreed on breaking the bond. Some omegas got over it when bonding to another alpha, but only few even got to the point of accepting someone new.

“The boss is the killer and he also killed his partner. Park Joowon stopped working and had no family. No one would search for him. He probably had been locked into the same barn where we had been locked in too. The killer had locked him in for almost a year and then killed him. Afterwards the killer started murdering other people. It all fits perfectly together.” Soonyoung made a discontent noise and ignored Jihoon.

“Where is he registered?” Soonyoung asked Wonwoo who made a sour face. 

“The same address as Min Jaeho.” Of course he was registered under the same address as the boss of the surveillance company. They couldn’t go and look for him there.

“Seokmin, can you try finding out at which kindergarten Park Joowon was working at and call there? Maybe they still had contact after he left. And we also need to know why he broke his bond. Vernon, maybe you can try calling his former alpha? And most importantly we have to find out if someone has seen him lately at his registered address.” 

Soonyoung swallowed heavily, before he went on talking. “Jihoon, Wonwoo you should try calling some of the neighbors. I’ll try to reach the manager of the building. Let’s do this fast! I’ll be in my office for the time being, if you find something, come over at once. Oh right, and please send the file to my mail address, Wonwoo. Thank you.”

Seokmin shouted loudly “yes sir” and Wonwoo and Vernon chuckled at the reaction. Jihoon was still sitting frozen on his seat, but there was nothing Soonyoung could do about that in the moment. He needed to do his job first. 

Soonyoung turned around and walked over to his office. Inside he immediately opened his notebook and searched online for the address written in the file that Wonwoo had sent him. Luckily he found a telephone number fast and called there at once. The manager of the apartment complex took the call after only two rings and everything seemed to go well. Unfortunately things didn’t keep on going as smoothly, because the manager wasn’t of any help. He could only tell him that both persons he was asking for were registered for the apartment, but he couldn’t remember both of them at all. The complex was very big and he went there only when things were broken, because he was living elsewhere. Soonyoung’s now only hope was that the others would find something out.

The alpha closed his eyes for a moment and tried to think about another way to figure out if Park Joowon was still living at the apartment complex without going there. He couldn’t come up with anything, so his mind drifted off to Jihoon. The awkward tension between him and Jihoon was exhausting. He didn’t know how much longer he could bear working like that. 

Soonyoung sat unmoving on his chair for a couple of minutes already when the door to his office flew open loudly. He knew that it was Jihoon without opening his eyes. He would recognize that scent between millions of others. 

“We have to talk.” Soonyoung opened his eyes and saw a completely different Jihoon than not even 20 minutes ago. His eyes weren’t void of emotions anymore, but there was a determined glint in them. “If you have something to say about the case then please talk.” The alpha saw the other flinching slightly at the mention of the case. Soonyoung knew that Jihoon didn’t want to talk about the case, but after the omega had told him not to talk about yesterday, he wouldn’t dare talking about it again. He wondered why Jihoon changed his mind so fast and was now the one coming to him. The omega was really unpredictable.

“I can’t work like this Soonyoung. It’s suffocating me. My feelings, the rejection and the pain. Everything!“ Soonyoung felt bad at the mention of Jihoon’s pain. Paired together with the sadness and devastation he could still slightly smell on Jihoon, it felt like a stab into his heart. 

“I considered what what do do about it because we need to be able to work together and catch the killer. I came to the conclusion that I need you in my life, Soonyoung. And if you can give me nothing more than friendship, then it’s fine with me. Just forget about my feelings for you and let’s go back to the friendship we had before.“ 

Soonyoung couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He smelt the sadness on Jihoon all the while he was talking and it just didn’t make any sense to him. The omega was obviously in pain and going back to being friends would probably worsen it. Besides that, Soonyoung couldn’t cope with being friends again when he knew what the other was feeling. These feelings wouldn’t just go away overnight.

“Jihoon, it’s not that easy. We are alpha and omega. I can sense what you are feeling. I can’t just forget about it and you can’t just stop liking me.“ Jihoon drummed with his fingers against the fabric of his pants like he always did when he was nervous. 

“You said that I don’t really like you.” Soonyoung expected Jihoon to pick up this comment one day. It happened sooner than he had expected. 

“I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry. It was not okay to downplay your feelings. Still, we should stay away from each other in our private time. It’s better for the both of us.” Jihoon suddenly had a very angry expression on his face. He came over to Soonyoung’s desk and hit loudly with his hand on the top of the table. 

“WHY CAN‘T YOU DO THIS FOR ME?“ Soonyoung was taken aback at Jihoon’s sudden outburst. He hadn’t expected the omega to react that strongly to his words. “Why can’t you at least do this for me? Do you hate me so much? Was I always just a bother to you?“ This felt a bit like the beginning of their friendship at the police station again. Soonyoung wasn’t able to follow Jihoon’s thoughts at all. Why did he want to be friends when he was obviously in pain and how did he get to the conclusion now that Soonyoung hated him? He had never hated him. Not even at university when he had been angry and mean to him all the time. He hadn’t hated Jihoon even once. Soonyoung wasn’t capable of hating him.

“I don’t hate you,“ the alpha said calmly and it made Jihoon clench his teeth. 

“How should I know? Even with my omega senses I never know what you are thinking. You are always guarding yourself too well. Soonyoung, what do you really think about me? Now and back at university?“ This time it was Soonyoung who looked away from Jihoon. The omega wanted to break down his walls and see what was hidden in his heart, but he couldn’t tell him that. Never. He had nothing to show and nothing to give.

“Okay, let’s be friends again,“ Soonyoung told the omega suddenly, his gaze still calm. He didn’t have another way out of this mess right now. He needed Jihoon to stop asking questions, even when the price for it was the promise of an awkward friendship. He could figure out later how to handle it. 

“You’re avoiding my question.“ Jihoon stepped closer to Soonyoung and looked him straight into the eyes. 

“You’re crossing the line, Jihoon. We‘re at work, let’s talk about this later.“ Soonyoung’s tone had turned slightly cold and as reaction Jihoon’s scent turned immediately into a completely burnt mess again. Soonyoung heart ached feeling Jihoon’s anger and pain and it left him troubled and restless.

At university he had wished for nothing more than being together with Jihoon. But now he was confused. He had sorted out his feelings for the other long ago but the sudden attraction he was feeling towards Jihoon after he went back to being an omega was messing with his mind. He felt Jihoon’s emotions strongly and he felt constantly drawn to the other, but it was different from what he had felt at university. He was sure that it was his biology and not love. Still, this attraction was slowly pushing the memories of his long forgotten love back to the surface and Soonyoung was scared. Scared to fall head over heels for Jihoon again and end up with a broken heart once more. His heart was already like a pile of broken glass, merly what it had been years ago when he had been a very bright and fun person. He didn’t want to pick up all the shards again and set his heart back together just to end up with Jihoon breaking it once more. It was never a good idea to mend what had already been broken.

That’s why Soonyoung wasn’t able to tell Jihoon about his feelings. He shouldn’t tell him how much he had loved him at university and how much he had really suffered from Jihoon’s strong rejection. And even more he shouldn’t talk about his current utter confusion. It would give Jihoon hope again when he really shouldn’t expect anything of the alpha.

Jihoon turned around angrily to walk away, but Soonyoung ran after him at once and grabbed his wrist tightly. “Jihoon wait. You need to calm down. We‘re at work. Your scent...“ Jihoon looked at him with tears in his eyes and Soonyoung wasn’t sure if he was near crying, because he was angry or sad. 

“What is wrong with my scent? What do you smell on it?“ Soonyoung hesitated answering. Jihoon’s scent was too complex right now, too angry and sad. He was afraid to analyse it too deeply. 

“SAY IT!“

Soonyoung closed his eyes and concentrated on Jihoon’s scent. At first there was nothing more than burnt peonies he could smell. The scent was strong and dark reflecting the anger Jihoon felt right now. At the same time there was another layer that smelt like sadness and devastation, like tears and rejection. Hidden very well underneath this very ugly mess of feelings, there was still the gentle scent of sweet peonies and raspberry. It was glistering hopefully in all the darkness. Soonyoung could sense clearly now what Jihoon was trying to hide underneath all the pain, anger and deveastiaton. It was love. His love was warm, but shy and fragile - just like Jihoon’s heart.

"Heartbreak. You smell like heartbreak.“ Jihoon was tearing up more at Soonyoung’s words and turned around to stomp off, but Soonyoung grabbed his wrist once more to stop him. 

“Wait Jihoon, please don’t go now. Calm down a bit first. The others...“ Jihoon’s eyes narrowed angrily, a single tear spilling from his eye rolling down his cheek. 

"What? Do you want them not to know you broke my heart?“ Soonyoung didn’t worry for himself, but he worried for Jihoon. The omega didn’t like it when other people were pitying him, but that was exactly what would happen if he went outside of his office now smelling like that. He wanted to protect Jihoon at least from that, even if he had no right to do so.

“Just please calm down a bit, Jihoon. If you want to be friends again, we can try. We can talk about it later. I promise.” Jihoon ripped his hand strongly out of Soonyoung’s hold, but his eyes softened a bit and his scent became less overpowering. 

“You better don’t go back on your words.” Soonyoung let out an inaudible sigh. That was the best he could do for now.

They stood quietly in Soonyoung’s office for a couple of minutes and Jihoon’s scent had calmed down a lot in that short time. “I’m okay now,” Jihoon told the alpha and opened the door to go back to his team’s office. Soonyoung followed the omega, curious if the others had found out something already. Seokmin and Vernon were busy on the phone while Wonwoo just sat there and watched the two of them walking into the office. He probably knew what was going on between them. He always knew what was going on.

The two officers went over to Jihoon’s table and the omega picked up a letter lying on top of his papers. “I haven’t seen that before. Where did it come from?” Jihoon looked at Wonwoo, who was still watching them curiously. 

“Someone from the mailroom brought it over just now.” Jihoon opened the letter carelessly and turned immediately pale when he looked at the paper. 

A bad feeling creeped up on Soonyoung and he ripped the paper out of Jihoon’s hand. The profiler saw the same red letters neatly set together like he had already seen them on the letter from the last crime scene. There was only one short sentence written, but it made Soonyoung’s world stop turning.

“You are the next pretty omega.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) I think I didn’t have so much trouble with writing a chapter in quite a while. I edited it many times, but I‘m still not very confident in this chapter. The writing isn’t all that well done. At this point I should probably just give up on the title writer. Storyteller might be more fitting for me. I’m good at making up stories and developing characters, but poor at writing haha. I don’t know if I actually will be able to write beautifully one day, but probably not. It’s just not my forte. Also it’s not helping that this chapter isn’t beta read and I’m not a native speaker so my English is not all okay. I’m really sorry if there are many mistakes D: 
> 
> Also I’m sorry for leaving you on this cliffhanger. I’ll try to update on Tuesday again so the wait won’t be too long, but course I can’t promise anything. Especially not because I’m not able to write very fast lately. Don’t know why… Oh well, next chapter will be kinda interesting, I think! And hopefully easier to write than this one haha
> 
> Oh right and if you think Jihoon’s behavior is unreasonable in this chapter, because you can’t switch so fast from being in pain from the rejection to wanting to be friends again… yes you can. I’m an idiot who actually did something like that. It’s greatly dumb behavior and I can’t advise it, but it’s a way of coping. Not a good one, but people not always act reasonable lol.
> 
> Thank you really a lot for reading. I got so many comments, kudos, bookmarks and hits for the last chapter that it was pretty overwhelming for me. Especially I had lots of fun reading all your comments ^^ I‘m still lacking as author in many aspects so I’m very, very grateful to get so much support! Thank you really so much, I can’t put it better than this into words. I love you all T_T <3
> 
> See you soon! Like always you can follow me on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel) for updates on Code Red and whatever :D


	21. Mistake after Mistake

Soonyoung stared at the paper in his hand, the red letters screaming at him, mocking him. This was all his mistake, he should have never brought Jihoon with him into this mess. He had failed as team leader. He should have protected Jihoon and not made him the killer's target, but he would make up for his mistakes starting right now.

Soonyoung suddenly grabbed Jihoon’s hand and dragged the omega in the direction of his office. “What is written in the letter? Where are you going?” Soonyoung heard Wonwoo shouting, but he didn’t pay him any mind. He was much too agitated right now.

“What the hell has gotten into you? Let me go!” Jihoon tried to get out of the alphas grip, but Soonyoung was much too strong. Soonyoung opened the door to his office and shoved the other officer inside. 

“Why are you behaving like this? It’s not even that surprising that the killer is targeting me now.” Soonyoung went over to his table and shoved furiously the papers off. He turned around to Jihoon and an angry growl came deep from his throat. Jihoon took instinctively a step back from the alpha.

“You’re not going to work on the case anymore.” Jihoon’s eyes widened hearing the alphas' words. 

“You must be joking, this is also my case! Besides that, it’s good that he is targeting me. He won’t kill then more omegas from the support group.” 

“Did you really just say that it’s good that he’s targeting you? Are you crazy? You have seen the victims. They all died a horrible death! This is no joke!” Soonyoung noticed how angry he sounded. This was very unusual for him, he couldn’t recognise his own voice anymore. 

“I know, I’m just saying that it’s better he targets me than someone else. I can defend myself better.” Soonyoung clicked his tongue hearing Jihoon’s words. He wasn’t happy with the omegas attitude. It just irritated him more.

“You’re taking this too lightly,” the alpha said in a low voice, but Jihoon wasn’t impressed by it. 

“And you are overreacting! You’re neither my mother nor my boyfriend.” Soonyoung couldn’t argue with that. He had no right to worry, but Soonyoung felt very agitated and decided that he didn’t care that he had no right. He couldn’t leave Jihoon alone in this situation. His behavior was very unreasonable, because the situation between them was already difficult enough as it was, but he just wasn’t able to calm the alpha inside of him down.

“You’re right. It’s not good to suspend you from working on the case. I can’t keep an eye on you then. I need to keep you around 24/7 now.” Jihoon was shaking his head in disbelief. 

“Why are you acting like this Soonyoung? You don’t make any sense.” Soonyoung walked slowly over to where Jihoon was standing with his back against the wall of his office and only stopped when he was right in front of the other. 

“You will listen to what I say.”

Jihoon was frozen for a moment and when he spoke up again, his voice was only a whisper. “You’re trying to manipulate me with your pheromones.” Soonyoung was balling his hands into fists trying to get the anger under control again. Jihoon was right. He hadn’t even noticed that he tried to manipulate the omega into listening. He was horrible for doing something like that, not better than all the alphas who thought they had a higher standing than omegas - alphas who thought it was okay to manipulate omegas, because it was their right.

“I’m sorry, it wasn’t my intention to do that. I’m just so angry, especially of myself. I couldn’t control it.” Soonyoung took a couple of steps back again to give Jihoon more space. The smaller one immediately slumped down the wall slightly like he fell out of a spell.

“Are you done with being angry now? We have to discuss the letter with the team. We also have to hand it over to the forensic team.” Soonyoung considered for a moment what to do with the situation. He still didn’t feel ready to go back and discuss everything with the team. He didn’t feel ready to let Jihoon just go like this. He needed to have the situation more under control, because he still couldn’t keep his alpha instincts at bay.

“I‘m staying with you tonight. I‘m not taking a no for an answer. I’m your team leader and I‘m also the one who brought you into this situation. You’re stuck with me.” Jihoon opened his mouth to say something, but closed it immediately again. His scent shifted slightly and Soonyoung could see something like hope glistening in his eyes. The alpha knew he should make it even clearer that this is not an emotional choice, but just a work related one, but he couldn’t bring himself to voice it out loud when Jihoon looked at him like that. Also it would have been a blunt lie. He was worried sick in a not very professional way. He just couldn’t bear the thought of losing Jihoon.

Jihoon blinked a few times and his scent that had just reached out to Soonyoung drew back again. The omega had probably noticed that his thoughts were going into the wrong direction and he immediately went back to being angry and defensive. “I can stay at Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s flat.” Soonyoung moved his head slightly from side to side, his eyes narrowing dangerously. 

“You’ll stay with me. We can’t endanger other people.” Now it was Jihoon who took a step closer to Soonyoung again. 

“Seungcheol is a police officer and a really good one! He can keep me safe just fine. He…” Jihoon suddenly shut his mouth obviously noticing that he was not helping the situation with his words. Soonyoung was barely able to hold back shouting at the omega, his alpha pride didn’t do well with Jihoon’s words.

“You can come over to my flat and I’ll order us pizza again and we can continue the anime.” Jihoon looked unbelieving at Soonyoung. The alpha knew he was being unreasonable, but at least for today he needed Jihoon to agree to his wish or he wouldn't be able to calm down. He couldn’t handle his alpha instincts right now, so he just kept on pushing the omega.

“Didn’t you say that we can stay friends?” Soonyoung immediately regretted asking this question, because it was a very stupid thing to ask. Saying it once must have been already difficult for Jihoon. Now Soonyoung made him say it again, just because he was angry and wanted to get him to agree with his unreasonable request. He was horrible. 

Jihoon hesitated for a moment, but answered the alpha then in a surprisingly calm voice. "Yes, of course. We are friends and as friends we can watch anime together again. It’s no problem.“ Jihoon worked very hard on not becoming too emotional, but Soonyoung knew that the other must have been lying. Of course it was a problem. Everything between them was a big obstacle at the moment and it was just a matter of time until things would blow up again. 

Still with Jihoon agreeing finally, he felt something like peace settle in again. He didn’t feel like ripping the next best person's throat out anymore and his mind cleared up completely. This had been the first time since puberty that he hadn’t been able to control his alpha temperament. As a result, he had hurt Jihoon once again.

“Can we go now?” Jihoon said tiredly and opened the door without waiting for an answer. Soonyoung hoped that he would be done now with crushing Jihoon’s feelings. He had hurt him already too much at this point. Still, the alpha couldn’t help making mistake after mistake. Maybe if his heart wouldn’t be so malfunctioning then he would make better choices and he would be a better person. But his heart was just too broken to be useful in these situations.

When both of them arrived back at the other office, their team members were already waiting impatiently. “Why did you run off like this? Show us the letter!” Jihoon shrugged at Wonwoo’s words and looked at Soonyoung who still had the piece of paper in his hand. The alpha hesitated for a moment, but laid the letter onto the table so everyone could see it. Seokmin made a shocked noise when he saw what was written and the other two seemed frozen for a moment.

“Hyung, you’re in great danger. Maybe you should not work on the case anymore,” Seokmin said and Jihoon gave him an angry look at once. 

“I already discussed that with Soonyoung. I won’t stop working on the case.”

“He’s probably safer when he’s with us than doing stupid things alone.” Jihoon rolled his eyes at Soonyoung’s comment and sat down on his chair. 

“We just have to catch that asshole before he can catch me. Or if he’ll try to catch me, I blow his head off. Easy.” Wonwoo was shaking his head in disbelief at Jihoon’s words.

“Do you even understand how serious this situation is?” Jihoon made an unimpressed face at Wonwoo’s words. 

“You can partner up with Soonyoung on that. You’re telling me the exact same bullshit. I’m a police officer and know quite well how grave the situation and how to handle it.”

“I don’t think so. You always overestimate yourself and run headlessly into danger.” Jihoon waved Wonwoo off and didn’t bother answering. Soonyoung looked back and forth between the two friends and decided that this discussion was not leading anywhere. They needed first of all information about the killer, so they could arrest him before something bad would happen.

“Did you find something out? Seokmin?” The beta looked uncharacteristically unemotional hearing the question. Either he was still in shock about the letter or he didn’t get any useful information. Maybe both. 

“I found the kindergarten Park Joowon was working at, it’s actually just 10 minutes away from our police station. The kindergarten teacher told me that he didn’t even come and pick up his things after he quit his job. He called her and said that he couldn’t do the job anymore and she never saw or heard anything of him afterwards again.” Soonyoung nodded his head. 

“Okay next. Vernon?”

“I don’t have a lot. The alpha he was mated to said that they mated too early and both of them agreed on ending the bond. He said something along the lines of ‘a mating bond is not always enough to maintain a relationship’. After breaking off their bond he only saw him once by chance on the street, but that had been two years ago.” Soonyoung was sure that this alpha was one of the really bad sorts. Saying that a mating bond is not always enough to maintain a relationship was a ridiculous thing to say. One can’t get closer to another person than with a mating bond, breaking it is unbelievably painful, because you are breaking the connection to one another that you had for years. You had to be a cold hearted bastard to think that a mating bond is not worth a lot. 

“Wonwoo what about you? You are our last hope.” Wonwoo was still staring irritatedly at Jihoon. He was probably really worried right now and Soonyoung couldn’t blame him. He was just the same after all. 

“I spoke to a neighbour who is living on the same floor as Min Jaeho and Park Joowon. She said that she hasn’t seen Park Joowon the whole year. She couldn’t even remember when exactly it was that she saw him the last time, but it must have been in the last year she said. She believes that they broke up. She added that she wasn’t surprised about that, because Min Jaeho is not a very friendly person and Park Joowon was much too nice for him.”

Jihoon smirked at Soonyoung. The profiler really hated that look on the omegas face. “Like I said, he killed him. Park Joowon was his first victim and now we just have to find his corpse and then we can arrest Min Jaeho.” Jihoon was right with what he said, but unfortunately it wasn’t that easy. 

“If he has killed him one year ago and the corpse still hasn’t been found, it will be difficult to find it now. He must have hidden it well,” Soonyoung said and started walking around the room in circles. They needed to figure out where Min Jaeho had hidden the body.

“I have an idea about that,” Vernon said quietly. “If Park Joowon really had been locked into the barn for almost one year, then the possibility is very high that he had been killed there too. Wouldn’t it make the most sense if the killer hid the corpse close by? It’s an abandoned farm after all. No one goes there anymore, so no one could find the body.” Soonyoung smiled slightly at Vernon’s words. That kid had a bright mind. 

“You’re right, it makes perfect sense. I’ll talk to the chief, so we can send a team with police dogs there. If the body is hidden there, it can probably take days to find it, but we really have no other choice. Hopefully the chief agrees, the evidence is a bit weak after all...”

“I think I know how we can handle that.” Soonyoung couldn’t help smiling even wider at Wonwoo’s words. He had a very intelligent team. “Seokmin, did the kindergarten teacher tell you if they still have the things Park Joowon had left behind?” Seokmin laid his head slightly to the side at the question. 

“Yes, she said that she really liked him, so she couldn’t bear throwing them out.”

Wonwoo nodded his head obviously pleased at the answer. “Good, we can probably get a DNA sample from one of the things and compare it with the DNA that had been found in the barn. If it matches, the chief can’t refuse a search of the farm and area around the farm.” The idea was brilliant. Soonyoung should have thought of that too.

“Let’s do it like that. If we pick up Park Jowoon’s things now and bring them immediately to the lab, we can have a result by tomorrow and start the search.” They were now at a promising place in their investigation and there was only one thing left to do right now.

“We should talk to Min Jaeho. We probably won’t get a lot out of him, but every small thing matters at this point. If he makes false statements, we can use them against him later when we arrest him.” Everyone nodded at Soonyoung’s words, besides Jihoon who sprung up from his seat hastily.

“I’ll go!!” Soonyoung was laughing darkly at the omegas words. 

“No, you won’t. You can go and pick up Park Joowon’s things at the kindergarten together with Seokmin.” The angry glint was suddenly back in Jihoon’s eyes and Soonyoung couldn’t help feeling slightly angry himself. 

“He’s targeting me! I need to talk to him! You can’t refuse me that.” Jihoon’s voice was loud and rang through the whole office. Still Soonyoung looked unimpressed hearing the other’s resentment. 

“I can and I will. I’m the team leader and I’m deciding what to do. I’ll take Wonwoo with me.” Jihoon walked over to where Soonyoung was standing and grabbed his shirt angrily. 

“You can’t do this to me! I’m not a child!” Soonyoung shrugged the other’s hands off and took a step back. 

“I know that, but you are his target and too emotionally involved. I can’t take you with me.” Jihoon laughed loudly and went back to his table. 

“And you aren’t emotionally involved? How dare you tell me this after what just happened in your office?“

“You’re crossing the line. Wonwoo, let’s go. When we’re back, the things of Park Joowon are better already at the lab. And don’t you dare going alone. You need to take Seokmin with you... Oh and Vernon, try to figure out how the letter came to the police office and bring it to the forensic science.” Jihoon kicked his chair away in anger, but Soonyoung didn’t pay it any mind and walked out of the office. This was for Jihoon’s own safety. He couldn’t take him along to meet the killer. 

At least Soonyoung kept on telling himself that. In the back of his mind he knew that the problem laid in himself. The situation was already difficult for Soonyoung, but with Jihoon around he wouldn’t be able to keep a clear head at all. He would worry too much the whole time.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What happened between Jihoon and you?” Soonyoung should have known that Wonwoo would start asking questions on the way to interview Min Jaeho. He should have taken Vernon with him instead. He wouldn’t have to suffer through an awkward conversation then. 

“Nothing,” Soonyoung answered while concentrating on the road. 

“This morning Jihoon had been completely out of his mind, Soonyoung. Then you two went to your office and things seemed to be a bit better again and now after finding the letter you two are suddenly really angry and aggressive. It’s difficult to keep up. What exactly happened?” Soonyoung tried to keep a straight face and not look annoyed. He didn’t want to talk about this before the interview with the suspect. Actually he never wanted to talk about this. 

“Ask Jihoon. He’s your friend after all.” Wonwoo chuckled slightly at Soonyoung’s answer. 

“I thought we became something like friends too.” Soonyoung ignored Wonwoo’s comment and stopped at a red light. He wished they would have already arrived at their destination, so Wonwoo wouldn’t be able to ask more questions.

“Jihoon told you that he likes you, didn’t he?” Soonyoung turned finally his head around to look at the beta. He wasn’t surprised that he knew about it, but he was a bit taken aback that the other asked so bluntly. 

“Yes, he did.” The light turned green and Soonyoung drove off looking at the road again. 

“I guess you rejected him.”

What should he even say to that? Soonyoung didn’t know what Wonwoo wanted to hear. “Yes, I did.” Wonwoo hummed lowly and Soonyoung had no idea what the other was thinking right now. Why was Wonwoo so good at reading other people, but it was almost impossible to read the beta? 

“Since you are not talking, let me have a guess what happened. You rejected Jihoon and he was devastated, then he told you that you should stay at least friends and after you found the letter you went crazy with worry and Jihoon was angry about your reaction.”

Soonyoung seriously didn't want to deal with Wonwoo right now. Why was he even asking when he already knew everything? “Yes, something along the lines…” Soonyoung finally saw their destination and let out a quiet sigh. He parked the car in front of the building and wanted to get off the car at once, but Wonwoo grabbed his arm and stopped him. 

“What did you tell Jihoon when you rejected him?” Soonyoung’s heart was beginning to pound slightly faster. He didn’t want to say it, but at the same time he didn’t want to bring Jihoon in the unfortunate situation of having to tell Wonwoo what happened. 

“I told him that I don’t feel the same way and that I think his omega biology makes him believe that he likes me.” Soonyoung heard Wonwoo take in a harsh breath. 

“You told me already that you don’t like him anymore, but I actually didn’t believe you at that time. I thought about it afterwards and I was very sure that you still have feelings for him.” 

Soonyoung finally pulled his arm out of Wonwoo’s grip. “Let’s go inside. We have to do our job.” The alpha got out of the car and started walking to the building of the surveillance company. Wonwoo followed him closely, but Soonyoung refused to look at him.

“If you keep running away, you’ll lose him, Soonyoung. Probably forever.” Wonwoo’s words shook Soonyoung more than he let on, but he didn’t want to think about it at the moment. He had to interview a murder suspect and he couldn’t become emotional. The situation was already difficult enough as it was. 

“Let’s concentrate on the interview right now. This is important Wonwoo and you know it. Jihoon is the target after all,” Soonyoung whispered to the other, scared that Min Jaeho was listening to their conversation over a surveillance system. 

“You’re right. Let’s talk about this later.” Soonyoung didn’t tell Wonwoo that he had no intention to talk later about this topic again, but chose to stay quiet.

Soonyoung went with big and strong steps into the surveillance company. He pushed away all worries and let his alpha attitude fall into place. In situations like these it was quite useful. He knocked at the door and went into the office. A man was sitting on a big swivel chair turning around when the door opened. The man smirked at the officers leaning back in his chair. He had short black hair and a strong build, his eyes had a dangerous glint in them. 

“Welcome. What can I do for you? Do you want to install a surveillance system?” Soonyoung could hear the mockery in his undertone. This guy knew exactly why they were here.

“We are from the police. Are you Min Jaeho? We need to ask you some questions.” Soonyoung showed his police badge and waited for an answer. 

“Yes, I am. Why do you need to ask me questions?” Soonyoung looked around Min Jaeho’s office to find anything interesting, but there was nothing. No photos, no personal belongings, the whole room was nothing more than a cold work space. 

“You installed cameras for an organization that helps omegas who were left by their alphas. There have been crimes surrounding omegas who get help from that organization. That’s why it would be of great assistance to us if you could answer some questions.”

Min Jaeho kept quiet for a while, before he gave Soonyoung another mocking smile. “I don’t answer any questions. I have the right to remain silent. If you want to talk to someone, you can talk to my lawyer.” The situation had turned into the worst case scenario. They couldn’t make him talk, because he really had the right to remain silent. He needed to make him talk somehow, but the situation seemed to be hopeless.

“It would be very helpful if you could cooperate with us. We only have a few questions.” Min Jaeho winked Soonyoung immediately off. 

“I don’t trust the police. I have my reasons. Here is the business card of my lawyer. Call him if you want.” Soonyoung had to admit that the guy was well prepared. He could do nothing else now than going back to the police station without one piece of information. It was frustrating.

“Then excuse us for taking up your time. We’ll contact your lawyer. Goodbye.” Soonyoung turned around to leave, but Min Jaeho let out a loud laugh. The officer looked back at the other alpha again, his lips pressed into a tight line.

“I really can’t stand boring alphas and betas like you two. The next time you’ll come here, you better bring a pretty omega along with you.” Soonyoung started moving angrily in the direction of Min Jaeho, but Wonwoo grabbed his arm and tried holding him back with all his might. That guy was the killer, but they had nothing to prove that he is guilty, so he sat here having the audacity to mock them. 

“Why so agitated officer? As far as I can tell from your scent, you are not mated. You shouldn’t go so crazy over the mention of an omega. You’re probably just an alpha who would reject a pretty omega and then still try to be the hero. But can you even keep an omega safe?” Soonyoung was seeing red. He wanted to kill this man with his bare hands and if Wonwoo wouldn’t have held him back, whispering to him that he needed to calm down and do his job, he would have probably ended that man’s life right here.

Soonyoung took a deep breath and shook Wonwoo who was still holding strongly onto him off his body. “We’ll see each other soon again, Min Jaeho.” Soonyoung gave the man an icy glare, turned around and opened the door finally. 

“Goodbye officer Kwon. Good luck protecting what is dear to you.”

Soonyoung’s hands were shaking in anger and he was barely able to hold back, not running over to the alpha to strangle him. Instead he stormed out of the building and went immediately into his car where he repeatedly hit the wheel while letting out a loud scream.

Not long afterwards, Wonwoo opened the door and sat down in the passenger seat, but Soonyoung didn’t look at him, but just stared straight ahead breathing heavily in agony.

“He’s the killer Wonwoo! He sent that letter to Jihoon and he also knows I rejected Jihoon. He knows everything!!! Jihoon is in great danger and it’s all my fault. He wants to punish me because I was the one who started this game. We have to find the body of Park Joowon as soon as possible or I don’t know what I’ll do to him.” 

That Min Jaeho was using the term ‘pretty omega’ the whole time had been no coincidence. The same term had been used in the letter and Min Jaeho used it now because he knew it would agitate Soonyoung. He was playing with him and right now he had the upper hand in this game. But Soonyoung was dead set on turning tables. He wouldn’t let that monster touch Jihoon. 

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Back at the police station, Jihoon and Seokmin were already waiting for them, but Vernon was nowhere in sight. Seokmin explained that Vernon was still trying to figure out how the letter came to the police station. The beta also explained Soonyoung and Wonwoo in detail how he picked together with Jihoon the things of Park Joowon up and brought them to the lab.

All the while Jihoon kept on asking annoyedly what Min Jaeho had said, but neither Soonyoung nor Wonwoo answered that question until Seokmin had finished talking. “He said that we should talk to his lawyer,” Soonyoung finally told the omega and sat down on a chair beside him. Jihoon drummed with his fingers nervously on the table. 

“That’s everything he said? You got nothing out of him? Nothing at all?”

Soonyoung had already considered on the way back how to tell Jihoon about the things Min Jaeho had said. He didn’t want to tell him what the suspect had said exactly, but he couldn’t keep all of it a secret. “He mocked me. He knows about everything that’s happening. I don’t like saying something like this without hard evidence, but after talking to him I’m positive that he’s the killer.”

Soonyoung saw in Jihoon’s eyes that he wasn’t happy with the explanation, he could even smell it on his scent. Still the omega chose to not ask again, which came as a surprise to Soonyoung. The alpha hoped that the topic had been closed just like that, but his intuition told him that Jihoon would pick the topic up later again.

Before the silence between the officers could get awkward, Vernon came stumbling into the office breathing heavily. “You look like you figured out something important,” Wonwoo told the other officer who had a stoic expression on his face. 

“No, nothing at all,” he said quietly and walked over to his chair sitting down tiredly. “I just wanted to let you know as soon as possible that the letter is useless. There are no fingerprints on it, which isn’t really surprising. It was brought by a young boy to the police station. I saw him on the surveillance camera. Of course we could try to find that boy, but I’m pretty sure that it won’t lead us anywhere. The killer probably gave the kid money or chocolate to bring the letter and disguised himself while doing so. These are old and boring tricks, we know how criminals work. It’s nothing new, but still effective.“

Soonyoung knew that Vernon was right. Searching for the child wouldn’t lead to anything. It would be wasted time and effort. “After all, we have to find the body of Park Joowon. We need to wait for the results of the lab, so we can prove that Park Joowon had been locked into the barn and get the approval for a search from the chief. When will the lab have the results?” Seokmin sighed at the question. 

“Not before tomorrow they said.”

It had turned into yet another day where they couldn’t catch the killer. But at least Soonyoung could be sure that no one would die this night, because he would make sure that Jihoon was safe.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The team went through files again and tried to figure out more things about Min Jaeho and Park Joowon, but in the end they had to give up and go home for the day. Soonyoung followed Jihoon closely all the way from the office to his car and got into the passenger's seat when the omega opened the doors. He was really glad when the other didn’t complain about it. They had fought today already enough.

The drive was quiet and the walk to Soonyoung’s flat was quiet too. He opened the door and Jihoon went inside and sat down at the far end of the couch. “I’ll order pizza and we can watch anime when it arrives.” Jihoon still didn’t say anything and Soonyoung started worrying that Jihoon would end up not talking the whole evening. 

Soonyoung got his phone out to call the delivery service, but couldn’t help talking to Jihoon again before doing so. “You haven’t said a single word since we left the police station.” Jihoon turned his head around sharply and gave the alpha a cold look. Something was definitely not right.

“You’re being unfair! I know that I said we should be friends, but you are taking it too far right now. I would be safe on my own in my flat and you know it! How do you think I should deal with your current behavior?” Soonyoung should have seen that coming. He had hoped that Jihoon had accepted his need to stay with him, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“In your office earlier… I’m still not good with understanding the scents of alphas and omegas, but even I could sense how angry and scared you were. How much you want to protect me…” Soonyoung tightened the hold on his phone. He knew that he should behave differently. He shouldn’t act so protective and possessive, because he had absolutely no right to behave like this - not after rejecting Jihoon just yesterday. 

Soonyoung called the delivery service without saying another word to Jihoon. He had nothing reasonable to say. It was all his alpha biology messing with his mind, but Jihoon wouldn’t like that as an answer. So it was better to just keep quiet.

When Soonyoung had finished ordering he went into the kitchen and fetched some cola to drink. He placed a glass quietly in front of Jihoon and sat down on the couch as well. “I guess you also won’t tell me what Min Jaeho said exactly? You’re just ignoring every single thing I’m saying after all.” Soonyoung rubbed his eyes tiredly. Everything was getting out of hand between them. He knew he should tell Jihoon the truth about everything, but he just couldn't do it. He was a coward.

“Yeah right, just keep on ignoring me. Ignore my feelings, ignore my questions and ignore my whole being. Why am I even here in the first place?” Soonyoung kept quiet again wondering why the tables had turned so fast. Just some minutes ago it had been Jihoon who hadn’t been talking. Soonyoung’s heart felt heavy in his chest, but he didn’t know what to do about it.

The two officers settled into an awkward silence until the doorbell rang. Jihoon ripped one of the pizza boxes out of Soonyoung’s hands as soon as he came back from getting the pizza at the door. He gave Soonyoung another annoyed look and started eating afterwards. Soonyoung turned the TV on and they quietly ate while watching anime.

It was 10 minutes into the second episode when Soonyoung noticed that his leg was brushing Jihoon’s. He remembered sitting down as far away as possible from the omega, so how did they end up like this? Did he move closer or had it been Jihoon? 

Soonyoung tried to concentrate on the anime, but to no avail. This really had been a stupid idea. Jihoon’s scent had taken a full turn from this morning and was back to the sweet peonies and raspberry scent. There was no anger, no devastation on his scent right now and Soonyoung couldn’t help but wonder if it was because of their close proximity. After all, the other had been annoyed and angry with him just half an hour ago. 

The alpha turned his head to look at Jihoon. The smaller one was looking at the TV, but it was obvious that he wasn’t really watching. The longer Soonyoung looked at him, the more his scent intensified. The alpha turned his head away again, but the damage had been done already.

Jihoon’s scent kept on pulling him in, alluring him. He loved Jihoon’s scent so much that it was almost embarrassing. Soonyoung felt his pulse speeding up at the gentle scent of peonies and raspberry enveloping him completely. He started imagining how their scents would smell mixed together and he could just barely hold back a moan. The need to be closer to Jihoon was overwhelming.

Soonyoung tried to swallow down the feelings, but it was too difficult. He slowly turned his head again and saw Jihoon watching him this time. His eyes were bright and hopeful looking right into Soonyoung’s soul. The alpha inside of him was growling in frustration at Soonyoung’s lack of action.

“Soon…” The profiler felt his heart beating faster and his mind was slightly fuzzy. It was getting more and more difficult to find a reason to hold back when Jihoon was looking at him like this, saying his name like this. Jihoon‘s pheromones were engulfing him, the scent of peonies and raspberry so sweet and alluring. 

Jihoon looked unearthly beautiful to Soonyoung at this moment. His skin smooth and snow white, his small mouth opened slightly, lips the prettiest pink color and in his eyes there was glistering a whole galaxy. Jihoon had always been beautiful to him, more beautiful than any other person. Since Jihoon had smiled the first time at him while sitting in their university’s cafeteria he had been sure that he would never meet another person as beautiful ever again - and he had been right. But it hadn’t only been his looks he fell in love with, it had been his whole personality. And now he was sitting here remembering all these feelings he had years ago and slowly went crazy, the same way he had been crazy about Jihoon many years ago. He tried to push the feelings away again and again, but it was too difficult under the allure of Jihoon. He couldn’t fight it anymore.

Just one time, he told himself while slowly grabbing Jihoon’s face and caressing it with gentle fingers. Jihoon’s skin was soft and warm under the alphas fingertips. He slowly moved his fingers along the others cheek to his chin and then up to his lips - perfect pink and petal soft lips. He had dreamed about this a million times at university and had truly believed that it would be forever nothing more than a mere dream without any substance.

Soonyoung held his breath and leaned forward to kiss Jihoon oh so carefully. It was just a brush of lips, but Jihoon’s pheromones were flaring up instantly and it made Soonyoung lose any reasoning. Soonyoung deepened the kiss and Jihoon immediately opened his mouth for him. There was nothing shy in this kiss. It was raw pent up emotions and desire. Soonyoung’s senses were in complete overload while kissing Jihoon. The omegas scent was swirling around Soonyoung, caressing him, begging him not to stop. But that wasn’t all, Jihoon’s mouth was hot and he tasted just so sweet to Soonyoung. It was amazing and more addicting than anything the alpha had ever tasted before.

Soonyoung slowly pushed Jihoon back until he laid on the couch all the while never stopping their kiss. Being on top of Jihoon and kissing him like this was perfect. His whole body sang in satisfaction. Soonyoung grabbed some of Jihoon’s hair and gently pulled at it and the omega let out a small noise of contentment that lit a fire deep inside of Soonyoung. He kissed the smaller more desperately, their tongues in a feverish dance with each other. The hand that wasn’t playing with Jihoon’s hair was caressing along the smaller one’s side and hips and his body reacted to each small touch. It was all too perfect.

Soonyoung stopped the kiss for a second to take a long breath, but went right afterwards back to kissing the omega deeply again. Jihoon who had greedily kissed him back all the while, but didn’t touch him once up to that point suddenly wrapped a hand around his neck and pulled him even closer. His other hand roamed Soonyoung’s chest in lazy circles. The alpha wanted and needed more than this, nothing seemed enough and he could smell the same need on Jihoon. The kiss got slowly out of control, teeth clicking hardly, but neither of them cared. When Soonyoung shoved Jihoon’s shirt up to touch the smooth skin of his chest and hips, the omega moaned quietly into the kiss. Soonyoung’s fingers started trembling slightly from sheer pleasure.

Soonyoung knew that he was close to giving into his alpha needs completely and finally pulled back from Jihoon just to see the omegas pupils being blown wide. There were so many emotions in his eyes that Soonyoung fell out of his trance instantly. He sat abruptly up in shock. He had gone too far. This should have never happened.

“I’m sorry, Jihoonie. I shouldn’t have done that.” Soonyoung smelled the change immediately. Jihoon’s sweet scent suddenly turned into burnt peonies. The omega sat up and turned away from Soonyoung, but not fast enough for the tears in his eyes to go unnoticed.

“Sorry. Oh my god, don‘t cry. Please don’t cry Jihoonie.” Soonyoung gently touched Jihoon’s shoulder, but the omega swatted his hand away aggressively. 

“Fuck off! Never touch me again!” Soonyoung could smell the devastation and sadness on Jihoon and he didn’t know what to do. Jihoon suddenly got up and stormed out of his flat. The smell of a distressed omega was still heavy in the air. What was wrong with him? Why did he have to fuck up so much not only once, but all the time? Soonyoung started panicking slightly and did the first thing he could think of. He got up and rushed over to Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s flat.

He rang the doorbell continuously and an annoyed Jeonghan opened the door quite fast. “Why would you ring the doorbell so often? What… why do you smell like that? What happened?” Soonyoung hesitated answering for a moment. He was embarrassed that Jeonghan had to clean up after his mess one more time.

“I fucked up with Jihoon again.” Jeonghan took Soonyoung by the shirt and gave him a cold look. 

“What did you do this time?” Soonyoung bit his lip and looked away from Jeonghan. 

“I kissed him and then I told him I’m sorry about it.” Soonyoung didn’t see the hand of Jeonghan coming that slapped him square across the face. 

“Fucking asshole. Don’t even think about coming after Jihoon again. Stay the fuck away!” Jeonghan ran off into the direction of Jihoon’s flat and Soonyoung just stood there feeling like the worst scum on earth. He deserved to be slapped like that. 

“Jeonghan will take care of Jihoon. Come inside and let’s have a talk.” Soonyoung stood rooted on the spot after hearing Seungcheol’s words. He could deal better with getting slapped than having a serious talk. 

“I know you don’t want to talk and I know you’re worrying about Jihoon, but he’ll be fine when Jeonghan is with him. He won’t break and the killer won’t go after him in his flat, so come inside now.” Soonyoung had no arguments to turn down the invitation, so he finally went inside Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s flat.

Soonyoung looked around for a moment, because he had never been inside their flat before. “Sit down, I’ll get something to drink.” Soonyoung sat down on the couch and shuffled awkwardly around. His cheek stung, but he would never complain about it because he deserved getting hit.

Seungcheol came back and put a glass of water in front of Soonyoung and sat down in the armchair. “Why did you kiss him, Soonyoung? You just rejected Ji yesterday.” Soonyoung shuffled again around on the couch. He didn’t want to talk about this. 

“Soonyoung, you never talk with anyone about your feelings. That is not good. Come on, I’m an alpha too. I can probably understand you best.” Soonyoung knew he wouldn’t get out of this situation without saying something. Better get it over with fast.

“I was so angry when I saw the letter. I couldn’t control myself anymore and I can normally always control myself. I needed to be sure that Jihoon is safe and I needed him by my side for that, but when we were in my flat it was… it was…” This was so difficult for him. He hadn’t talked about his feelings since university anymore. He didn’t even really know how to express them correctly. “Jihoon’s allure was so strong. I couldn’t resist, hyung."

Seungcheol chuckled and his eyes sparkled mischievously. “Do you really want to tell me that you could resist Jihoon while he was in heat, but not outside of his heat?” Soonyoung sighed loudly. That was the problem with talking to an alpha. An alpha could easily see when certain things didn’t make sense.

“It was the whole situation. Watching Jihoon’s heartbreak, smelling that awful devastated scent on him, being in worry about him because he became the target of the killer… I don’t know, I just lost my mind.” Seungcheol still smiled at him and it left him unnerved.

“So you kissed him just because you were agitated? You didn’t do it because you actually wanted to kiss him? You didn’t like kissing him?” Soonyoung wanted to scream. Seungcheol was asking all the right questions so Soonyoung would start doubting all of his words and thoughts.

“No, I… how could I not like it? Please don’t ask me such questions, hyung!” Seungcheol laughed loudly and Soonyoung was really close to just getting up and running out of the flat. 

"If Ji is naturally attracted to you, it’s probably the same for you. Why are you so cowardly ignoring it? Because he refused you at university?" It wasn’t that easy. Seungcheol wouldn’t understand.

“I loved him back at university, hyung. I can’t love him again. I’m not capable of it. What happened today was just because of the attraction between us.” Soonyoung sensed that the other alpha got now slightly annoyed with him and it made Soonyoung even more defensive.

“The same way Jihoon had to admit that this isn’t just his biology, you have to admit it too. Why are you both such stubborn idiots? I‘m used to Ji being like this, but you were different Soonyoung. Don’t be an idiot and hurt Jihoon even more.” Seungcheol knew nothing about him right now. Seungcheol expected things of him that he wasn’t capable of fulfilling. He wasn’t brave. He was just a hopeless case.

“You are running away Soonyoung. You are running away from Jihoon and from your true nature. You’re not better in that aspect than Ji. You never listen to what your heart tells you. You have to get a grip and behave like a fucking alpha for once! You need to live Soonyoung and not just hide all the time.“ Soonyoung pondered on what Seungcheol just told him, but couldn’t find an answer right now. 

“I have to think about this, hyung.” Seungcheol nodded his head and gave him a friendly smile. 

“Yes, you do.”

Seungcheol got up from the armchair and Soonyoung immediately did the same knowing it was the sign for him to leave. “Go home Soonyoung. And don’t worry about the killer, he won’t try to get Ji at his flat. You know that, right? Staying with him was unreasonable from the very start. It was just your alpha instincts telling you to stay with him.” Soonyoung ignored the comment and walked to the door. He hated to admit that Seungcheol was right, but the possibility that the killer would try to get Jihoon at his flat was almost zero. The flats were really safe, so he couldn’t break in and Jihoon would never willingly let someone he didn’t know into his flat. After all, Jihoon is a police officer and knows how to handle such situations. Soonyoung just hated the situation so much because he couldn’t stop worrying when Jihoon wasn’t around.

Soonyoung grabbed the door handle and wanted to just press it down when Seungcheol spoke up again. “Oh and one more thing. It’s my own small revenge for hurting one of my best friends. Think about how it was to kiss Jihoon. Think about it all the time and then try to keep on telling yourself that you don’t like him. I’m curious how long you’ll last.” Seungcheol was waving him happily and Soonyoung made a sour face and left the flat. Seungcheol’s words would now keep on messing with his mind. Alphas were awful, because they knew all too well what would rile up another alpha.

Soonyoung walked over to his flat and inside he immediately went into the bathroom. He shrugged his clothes off, got under the shower and tried to forget what happened the same way he did when Jihoon’s heat hit him. But it was different this time. This wasn’t just an urge he had because Jihoon was in heat. Seungcheol had been right, he couldn’t hide behind it this time. He had been under the allure of Jihoon, but he couldn’t blame it on the allure alone. He had simply wanted Jihoon at that moment and it scared him.

He was scared that nothing of this was real. That their biology was just messing with them and one day when Jihoon hormones weren’t out of control any longer, he wouldn’t want him anymore. That even in this very moment he didn’t really want him, but it was only the omega in Jihoon who was telling him what to do. He wouldn’t be able to get over another rejection by Jihoon. His alpha pride couldn’t take it and his already broken heart would ultimately burn into nothingness. They shouldn’t be together. It would only turn out nasty. He could feel it deep down in his broken heart. And still he didn’t know if it was the right decision to keep on denying Jihoon. Seungcheol was right, he was an alpha, but didn’t have the courage to act like one.

He was an idiot and a coward. He kept on hurting Jihoon and himself, but he wasn’t capable of acting differently. The best would be to stay far away from Jihoon, but he couldn’t even do that. He didn’t know what to do anymore. 

It was only a matter of time that one of them would end up completely broken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) Omg I had to write 21 chapters for them to kiss finally! Just to make it very frustrating D: But I always had planned it like this, so what can I say? My mind is messed up lol. Still I tried to write it nicely. Hope it’s fine hahaha
> 
> This turned into a very long and emotional chapter and really so much happened. From the beginning where Soonyoung became against his normal character really angry, over to the first meeting with Min Jaeho, over to the kiss, which is right and wrong at the same time and I’m very sorry to Jihoon for everything. This chapter is 8.000 words. I started off with writing 3.000 words a chapter, then 4.000, then 5.000 and now 8.000. It’s the ultimate maximum I can manage in one week. Have to make the next one shorter again!!!
> 
> While I wasn’t a big fan of the last chapter, I really like this one. Just because a lot of things happened and like writing chapters with lots of action. Not THAT action.. well, that action too, but that’s beside the point.
> 
> I guess now everyone should know who the killer is. I could have made it more complicated, but I actually like that it’s out in the open who the killer is, but they nevertheless aren’t able to arrest him. For me personally, it’s more thrilling this way. Time is ticking. Let’s see how they’ll try to catch him.
> 
> Next chapter we’ll be back in Jihoon’s pov and have a look at how he’s dealing with everything!!  
This chapter is again not beta read. So excuse my mistakes. I always try my best to find all mistakes, but I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to get a text perfect by yourself. Sorry for that.
> 
> Like always thank you so much for reading! I’m really getting tremendous support for this story and it makes me very happy. Some people say that it’s because it’s an abo story and abo stories always get the most support. I stubbornly try to believe that this is not the only reason though :D Really thanks a lot for going this long way with me, always writing comments and supporting me. It makes updating regularly a lot easier, believe me. So really thank you a lot for writing me the most amazing comments here and on twitter, for giving kudos and bookmarking this story and also just for reading. Thank you so much <3
> 
> I really want to update on Tuesday but I think that’s impossible to manage. I’ll be back with a new chapter latest on next Saturday though! See you soon :D Like always you can follow me on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel) for updates. I normally write there when exactly I’ll update ^^


	22. Wrong Mindset

Jihoon woke up and looked around his room with sleepy eyes. Everything looked the same. The same walls, the same furniture, the same ugly beige and black patterned carpet he wanted to change since moving in years ago. Everything looked exactly the same as the day before, but his feelings were once again different than the last time he woke up in this bed. Every day was chaos right now. Every day something happened that left him behind in sadness or anger. Today it was the latter.

He was angry at Soonyoung and he was angry at himself. He was angry at Soonyoung for behaving like an overbearing mother the whole day to just end up kissing him and then chickening out afterwards. And he was angry at himself that he couldn’t stop thinking about their kiss. It had been on constant replay yesterday evening in his head and it had been the first thing in front of his inner eye when he woke up. It was starting to drive him up the wall.

Yesterday had been nothing but a big mess. Jihoon almost couldn’t believe how much can happen in one day. First there had been the awkward morning with Soonyoung, then the discussion with him how to be friends again, on to Jihoon becoming the target of the killer, into finally Soonyoung snapping to protect him from the killer. Jihoon still wasn’t sure what had happened with Soonyoung there. Obviously his alpha biology came to light, but it still left Jihoon confused behind because he never had seen the other behave like that.

Jihoon had his fair share in life of seeing alphas snapping. As police officer he saw drunken alphas beating each other up and he saw crazy alphas trying to murder people. He also saw his father snapping after coming back from a mission where he couldn’t be reached and Jihoon’s grandfather died in the meantime. Jihoon even saw Vernon snapping in the last year when they were working on a very cruel case. He had seen it all, but he had never expected to see Soonyoung snapping like that. Soonyoung was reserved most of the time and very good at controlling his emotions. That the alpha could snap like this didn’t seem like a possibility.

When Soonyoung had told him in anger to do what he says, Jihoon had been very close to agreeing. There had been a tiny part in his brain left that had told him to not give into the alpha and he still didn’t know how he managed to listen to that small part of his brain. Because the rest of his whole being screamed at him to do exactly what the alpha told him. It had been frightening. The biology of alphas and omegas kept on getting scarier for Jihoon.

The situation hadn’t been nice, but Soonyoung and him settled on an agreement and he thought everything would be fine - maybe not fine, but bearable. Things kept on not going smoothly between them though. Soonyoung didn’t take Jihoon along to interview the suspect and he kept on ignoring Jihoon’s questions throughout the day. That’s why Jihoon went from being sad to confused to angry and back. At one point he just settled for angry because he could cope with that emotion the best.

He had been angry until Soonyoung had started watching him while sitting on the couch in the alphas flat together. His scent had been enticing and Jihoon couldn’t help shifting slowly closer to Soonyoung. Yes, he had been angry, but at the same time he was still in love. He couldn’t control his feelings.

When Jihoon had finally turned his head to look at Soonyoung he had wanted nothing more than the other to kiss him. He could see the hesitation in Soonyoung’s eyes, but it slowly faded away and only desire was left. Jihoon’s mind warned him that this wouldn’t end well for him because of Soonyoung’s non-existent feelings. But Jihoon’s heart was weak and the desire too great.

Kissing Soonyoung had been like nothing he had ever felt before when kissing another person. Jihoon had never been a big fan of kissing. It was just something to do when you like a person well enough, but he never understood the hype about it. It was a necessity in a relationship he wasn’t very fond of, because it neither satisfied him on an emotional level nor was it very arousing to him. When he kissed Soonyoung it had been completely different. Everything about the kiss had been electrifying - how Soonyoung had touched his lips and slowly opened his mouth with his tongue and how he had kissed him passionately, but at the same time full of emotions. The alphas scent had wrapped around him lovingly and it almost drove him crazy. Jihoon’s head had been spinning in pleasure and he just didn’t want the closeness between them to stop. He needed the other more than ever. He needed to be closer, to touch Soonyoung more, to feel him more and he just wanted to surrender completely to his emotions. 

Unfortunately, things between them had to end up messy again. Jihoon had run out of Soonyoung’s flat out of embarrassment and anger after being rejected once more. Even though the kiss had felt so completely right, everything about it had been wrong. Their feelings just didn’t match. Soonyoung and him together were a disaster.

Jihoon knew that all too well, because he was the one suffering again and again. Still he couldn’t stop thinking about kissing Soonyoung and it made him furious. Jihoon sat up in bed and looked at the clock. It wasn’t even 6AM yet. His alarm would only ring one hour later, but going back to sleep would be of no use anymore. He decided to just go early to work and visit the training center for a while to clear his head. With that thought in mind, Jihoon got up and walked into the living room. Jeonghan was lying on the couch, hia eyes barely open. 

“I told you to go home, hyung. I’m fine.” Jeonghan huffed and got up slowly. 

“I don’t trust you when you say that you are okay. You’re always trying to keep secrets from me lately.” Jihoon rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen to make coffee. 

“I don’t know what your problem is. I wasn’t even crying when you came to my flat yesterday. I had been totally fine.” Jeonghan had followed Jihoon into the kitchen and leaned against a counter. 

“Your eyes had been red Jihoonie and you had a breakdown the day before. Something like that happening yesterday must have been devastating.”

Jihoon chuckled at Jeonghan’s words. “Something like that? You can spell it out. Soonyoung kissed me and then said afterwards that he’s sorry about it.” Jeonghan angrily knitted his eyebrows together at Jihoon’s words. 

“Just forget him already. You’re too good for him. He’s an idiot and he deserved that I slapped him.” Jihoon suddenly let go of the spoon in his hand and it fell with a loud clang to the floor. 

“You hit him???” Jeonghan shrugged innocently and turned from Jihoon away walking over to the fridge to look inside. 

“When will you start buying food? You can’t keep on buying fast food all the time, Jihoonie.” The officer followed his friend and took him by the sleeve of his sweater. 

“Yoon Jeonghan. You hit him???” Jeonghan shrugged again while giving Jihoon his most gentle smile. 

“Someone had to punch some sense into him. I had been angry.” Jihoon shook his head in disbelief and let go of Jeonghan’s sleeve.

“You don’t have to hit people on my behalf. I can manage that just fine myself.” Jeonghan sat onto one of the bar chairs in front of the counter and watched the other intently. 

“No, you can’t, because you are head over heels for Soonyoung. Your brain isn’t working right. If it would work correctly, you wouldn’t have let Soonyoung kiss you after getting rejected.” Jihoon knew that the older one was right and it was annoying to admit that, so he simply didn’t say anything to the older one.

“Why did you let him kiss you?” This time Jihoon shrugged and turned away from Jeonghan to put some coffee into the coffee machine. Jihoon considered not answering, but he knew what a pest Jeonghan could be. He would just keep on asking. 

“I wanted him to kiss me. I didn’t miraculously fall out of love with him over night, you know. It was stupid, but…” But he didn’t regret it. In the contrary, he wished that Soonyoung would come over to his flat now, knock at his door and tell him that he had been stupid and blind. That he wasn’t sorry about the kiss and that he wanted Jihoon just as much as the younger wanted him.

Jihoon couldn’t tell that Jeonghan though. The older one would never shut up about it and explain to him in detail why he shouldn’t think like that. And the worst part would be that Jihoon wouldn’t even be able to deny it, because Jeonghan would be totally right. That’s why the only reasonable thing Jihoon could do right now was being angry at himself - angry because he was too weak to shut up his heart that was too much in love.

Jihoon poured himself a cup of coffee and turned around to Jeonghan again. “Go home, hyung. Seungcheol-hyung is probably waiting for you and you also have to go to work soon. Thank you for staying with me, but I’m really okay.”

“Just so you know, I’ll hit Soonyoung again when he fucks up one more time. See you later, Jihoonie. Don’t take a detour on your way to work. The killer is after you, so you have to be cautious.” Jihoon waved at the older one and Jeonghan finally left the kitchen. Soon the omega heard the door to his flat opening and falling shut.

Jihoon let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. He had a long day ahead of him. They had to find a corpse and arrest a killer. And he had to deal with his annoyingly stubborn heart that left him feeling very angry. Love, heartbreak and anger were a toxic mix. Hopefully Soonyoung would just avoid him the best as possible.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

At 6:45AM Jihoon opened the door to his flat and knew immediately that the day would be even worse than anticipated. Soonyoung was standing in front of his door, obviously not haven gotten the memo to avoid him as best as possible. 

“Why are you standing there and how long are you already standing there? I’m much earlier than normal, because I wanted to go to the training center. You couldn’t have known that.” Soonyoung just stared at him without answering. “Okay, if you don’t talk to me then I just go.” The alpha suddenly fell out of his stupor and took a step closer to Jihoon. 

“I wanted us to go to work together.” Jihoon laughed disbelieving at the answer. 

“You can’t be serious.” Soonyoung took another step towards Jihoon and the omega instinctively took a step backwards, hitting the door with his back. 

“It’s dangerous for you to go alone. We are a team, let me help you.” Jihoon felt anger bubble up in him strongly at the alphas words. He had been on the edge all morning and this was taking things too far. 

“We are fucking nothing Soonyoung!” Jihoon shouted at the other while glaring at him. Soonyoung gave him an apologetic look and it made Jihoon even more angry. 

"I‘m still very sorry for what happened, Jihoon." Jihoon laughed loudly at Soonyoung’s words and took a step back from the door, so he stood right in front of Soonyoung. 

“And that’s the problem between us Soonyoung. Because I’m not sorry at all. For you it was just a mistake but for me it wasn’t. That kiss made me feel alive. I never imagined I could feel something like this. I thought about the kiss countless times since yesterday and the only thing I want is for you to kiss me again like that. So fuck off with your “we are a team” bullshit. If you don’t want to be together with me then I‘m better off alone. I thought we could be friends again, but I was wrong. I like you too much for being friends.”

Soonyoung looked taken aback at the smaller one and bit his lip slightly. He suddenly reached out for the omega, but Jihoon glared at him even harder. “If you touch me now, I‘ll shoot you in the hand! I’m not joking!” Soonyoung took a step back from Jihoon looking apologetical again. “Don’t look like a kicked puppy at me! Fucking stop it! It’s not working!” It was actually working much too well. It reminded Jihoon of the times at university when the older wanted something from him. Jihoon always refused him in the beginning but he had always ended up saying yes. He could remember it all too well.

It had been only two or three weeks into their weird friendship at university and Soonyoung had been craving curry while studying, bugging Jihoon and Wonwoo to no end. Wonwoo had kept on saying that they should go and eat something else because the beta knew that Jihoon hated curry, but Soonyoung had been annoyingly persistent. Jihoon had tried to ignore the begging for a while, but at one point he got so tired of the alphas whining that he agreed on going to a curry restaurant. Or at least that’s what he kept on telling himself at that time. It actually had been Soonyoung’s puppy eyes he couldn’t say no to. At university Soonyoung had known quite well how to use his charms to his advantage and Jihoon had been completely weak to them. But Jihoon had never admitted to that and had turned away from Soonyoung like a coward. If he wouldn’t have turned away from Soonyoung at that time, where would they be now? What kind of relationship would they have now? Jihoon couldn’t help but wonder if his life would be very different now. If he wouldn’t have had many failed relationships, but only one that might be still ongoing.

Jihoon winced slightly when Soonyoung’s voice suddenly brought him back into reality. “We came home together yesterday. My car is still at work.” Soonyoung was really testing Jihoon’s patience. He was close to exploding, because the profiler’s words were obviously just a lame excuse. 

“Then walk! It doesn’t even take 30 minutes. Or take a taxi, I seriously don’t care.”

Soonyoung gave him another puppy look and Jihoon was close to storming off, but the alphas voice stopped him. “Jihoonie, please…” He officially hated Kwon Soonyoung. But he hated himself even more because he was just too weak to say no to that. Maybe he was in general too weak to say no to Soonyoung. 

“Okay, but you better don’t talk to me. I’m still angry.”

Jihoon turned around and walked to the elevator. Soonyoung was following him closely without saying a word, but his scent did the talking for him. It was warm and calming telling Jihoon that everything would be alright. The alphas scent wrapped around him like a blanket and all the anger slowly melted away like snow on a sunny day. The only thing left behind were his feelings for the other - stronger than ever. 

Jeonghan had been right. He really was head over heels and couldn’t think clearly anymore. Luckily they would be busy at work. At least that might take his thoughts off of Soonyoung for a while. 

He was tired of liking Soonyoung while not knowing what to do about it.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung had taken Jihoon’s words seriously and didn’t talk to him the whole way to the police station. As soon as they arrived there, Jihoon had stormed off to the training center and left Soonyoung behind without saying a word. Jihoon hadn’t even any had anger left at that point and just felt stupid. He forgave the alpha all too easily and his mind couldn’t even provide anything to stay angry at himself. Soonyoung’s soothing scent was still lingering on him and he couldn’t help being pathetically in love. 

Jihoon went to the training center and instead of going to the changing room, he laid down on one of the benches in the training hall. He was so tired of everything. “You look like shit. Do you think you can train like this?” Jihoon opened his eyes to see Minghao looking down at him. 

“Do you always have to be so rude? I’m you’re hyung, show some respect.” Jihoon sat up on the bench and the training instructor sat down beside him. The omega felt immediately a bit better talking to Minghao, because he was a good friend to Jihoon since they met one year ago. Minghao was more the silent type, but had a crude sense of humor and was very straight forward. Jihoon appreciated these character traits. He could always be sure that the other would tell him his true opinion, even though it hurt sometimes. 

“I‘m merely stating facts. So what’s going on, hyung? Everyone can see that something is wrong between you and Soonyoung.” Jihoon had been running to the training center to forget about Soonyoung for a while, but ended up talking about him once again. 

The omega wasn’t sure how Minghao knew about the problems between him and Soonyoung. He hadn’t seen the other in the last days. “What do you even know? You haven’t been around lately.” Minghao looked at him with a completely straight face, but there was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. That was never a good sign and made Jihoon feel slightly anxious. Minghao was a scary man sometimes. 

“I always know what’s going on, hyung. I’m not as perceptive as Wonwoo-hyung, but I have pretty sharp eyes.” Jihoon wanted to argue again that Minghao hadn’t been around lately, so he couldn’t see what was going on, but gave up on it. He would just get another strange answer from the younger one and that didn’t lead to anything.

“Everything is just so difficult, Minghao. Alpha and omega dynamics are especially difficult.” Jihoon leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes again. 

“Who says that life is easy?” Jihoon made a sour face at Minghao’s remark, but his eyes remained closed. 

“I hate you and your stupid wise sayings.” The omega heard the other chuckling quietly and he opened one eye to peek at the beta. He had an overly amused look on his face which made Jihoon close hise eye immediately again. 

“But it’s the truth. Especially if it’s about feelings. Relationships between people are always difficult. Gender doesn’t play a role there. It’s all the same difficult.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you. Get your stuff sorted out with Jun first,” Jihoon said in a grumpy voice and Minghao laughed airily at him. 

“I have my stuff sorted out. Jun and I are dating already for quite a while.” Jihoon fell a bit forward and opened his eyes in shock. 

“Wait, are you for real? Why did neither of you say anything?” Minghao shrugged at the omega and stood up from the bench and walked a bit around. 

“We needed some time for ourselves and it was actually fun how you all kept on pestering us to date when we were already going out.” 

Jihoon couldn’t believe it. For the longest time Minghao and Jun had been dancing around each other always making the impression both of them were too stupid to actually confess. “You are both impossible. Do you know how many times we all sat together discussing how we can help you two?” Minghao gave Jihoon a little smirk and sat finally down again. 

“Of course I know. Like I said, I have sharp eyes.” Jihoon shook his head in disbelief. 

“You know that I’ll tell the other’s now, right? There is no way I’ll keep that a secret. It’s not even something that should be kept a secret when you are happy. I probably couldn’t keep it a secret…” Jihoon suddenly stopped the sentence and his thoughts drifted back to Soonyoung. If the alpha had said two days ago that he would be willing to try and match his feelings, where would they be then right now? Would he have been overly happy telling his friends at once about it? Would he be sitting now in Soonyoung’s office smiling at the other while talking about the case? Would they have already discussed where they would go for their first date?

“So what will you do about Soonyoung-hyung now?” Jihoon had no answer to Minghao’s question. A strange emptiness suddenly filled him up and he felt like lying down on the bench again. 

“There is nothing I can do. I confessed and he rejected me. End of the story.” Minghao stared at him for a long while, a bit like he wanted to push his thoughts into the omegas mind. 

“If it’s that easy for you to give up on him then your feelings must have been very shallow.” The betas' words left Jihoon dumbfounded. 

“Excuse me, I’ve just gotten rejected two days ago. What do you expect of me?” Minghao rolled his eyes at Jihoon. 

“Jun got rejected by me at least ten times. One rejection is nothing, hyung. If you really like him, you should consider fighting for him. You have the wrong mindset.” Minghao’s words were nothing less than shocking to Jihoon. He hadn’t considered once that fighting for Soonyoung’s affection was even a possibility. He had been sad and devastated because of a broken heart and because of self pity. And he had been confused and angry because Soonyoung gave him attention and kissed him, but backed out in the end. He hadn’t thought once seriously about what he should do from now on. His heart and mind kept on telling him that he liked Soonyoung, but he couldn’t find an answer to what he should do with these feelings after getting rejected.

“I don’t know how I should do that. Everything between us is a mess, Minghao.” The training instructor gave him a warm smile, obviously seeing that the older one was confused by his words. 

“First of all, don’t mope around. Either fight for what you want or give up. Moping around doesn’t lead to anything.” Minghao was completely right. Moping around wasn’t even his style. He needed to choose what to do from now on, but his mind was still a mess and he couldn’t come up with a solution on the spot. 

“You’re right,” Jihoon told the other with a loud sigh. 

“You don’t have to tell me that. I know I’m right.” The gentle smile on Minghao’s face was as fast gone as it had surfaced and he was back to smiling mischievous at Jihoon once again. 

“I really hate you, do you know that?” Minghao shook his head while laughing quietly. 

“No, you love me. Go and train for a bit. Maybe it will help you clear your head.” Jihoon got up from the bench and stretched his neck from side to side. 

“Hopefully it will help my body. Bloody omega body that makes it so difficult for me to build up muscles. Can’t even maintain a sixpack while being busy with work.” Minghao made a humming noise at Jihoon’s complaint. 

“Was it really work you were busy with or a certain alpha?” Jihoon threw a towel at the beta who caught it with ease. “Oh shut up. I’ll go and train now. Bye.” Jihoon turned around, waved quickly and made his way to the changing room.

Maybe Minghao was right and his mindset was wrong. It really might be worth it considering fighting for Soonyoung’s affection. The problem was that he didn’t know if a fight would lead to a positive outcome or if it would make things even more complicated. At one point he might not be able to stop this toxic love anymore and end up completely broken. Also, he had the feeling that it would be inconsiderate to put so much pressure on Soonyoung when he had just rejected him. He couldn’t just ignore Soonyoung’s rejection and keep on trying to win his heart… could he?

One thing was clear, moping around and feeling bad about the whole situation was of no use. He needed to fight his omega biology which just kept on making him sad and confused and angry. He had to try and find his real self in the mess of emotions again, so he could find an answer how to handle the situation with Soonyoung. He needed to decide if he should fight for the alpha or give up once and for all. 

Above all, he needed to figure out if giving up his feelings was even possible.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Jihoon came back from the training center he turned around a corner in the police station, where he stopped immediately after seeing Vernon and Seungkwan talk to each other. “I’m sorry about the date. I’m just so busy with the case…” Seungkwan smiled happily at Vernon who on the contrary looked sad and apologetical. 

“It’s okay. I know you are busy. We can go when the case is over.” Vernon gave the omega now also a small smile and Jihoon couldn’t help but feel jealous. He should be happy for his friend, but seeing these two laugh and talk so easily to each other was very annoying to him in his current situation. Why couldn’t Soonyoung and him be so disgustingly cute with each other too?

Vernon suddenly turned around to Jihoon after he probably noticed the older one’s scent. “Hyung! You’re here already?” The alpha looked slightly embarrassed and turned back to Seungkwan. “Let’s talk again later, okay?” He smiled once more and then sprinted over to Jihoon. Seungkwan was waving enthusiastically at the two of them and it made Jihoon feel kind of sick. He couldn’t handle happy people right now. “Let’s go to the office, hyung.”

They both walked quietly side by side for a moment before the omega spoke up. “So you’re going on a date with Seungkwan after all?” Vernon stopped his step and laughed quietly. 

“Yeah, Seungkwan is very persuasive. And in the end I couldn’t find a reason to waste any more time when we both want to get to know eachother better. I tried to make things more difficult than they really are.” Making things more complicated than they really are? Maybe Jihoon made things more complicated than they are with Soonyoung too.

“Are you okay, hyung? You seem to be very out of it.” Jihoon shook his head hard and pushed any thoughts of Soonyoung away. He needed to focus on the case now. He would try to sort out his thoughts and feelings later. 

“Yes, I’m fine. Let’s go.”

The two of them entered their office and saw Soonyoung on the phone, while Wonwoo and Seokmin stood close to their team leader. “I understand. Thank you for your hard work.” Jihoon and Vernon hurried closer when Soonyoung cut the call off.

“What happened?” Jihoon asked immediately and Soonyoung turned his head to him, a strangely empty look on his face. 

“The DNA matches.” Finally they found something and they were closer than ever to catching the killer. Just a bit more and they would have him. With that in mind, it was slightly confusing to Jihoon why Soonyoung didn’t seem to be happy about it. Everyone else was spotting huge smiles on their faces.

“You should talk to the chief immediately to get the search going as soon as possible.” Soonyoung nodded his head at Jihoon’s words, but his expression was still strangely serious. 

“I did some thinking and there is something I want to do before we start the search for the corpse.” The whole team looked surprised at Soonyoung, not really knowing what he wanted to say.

“As soon as the search will start, I’ll go and take Min Jaeho into custody, we have enough reason to do that now.” That wasn’t something that Jihoon had expected the other to say. He had thought they were all agreeing silently on finding the corpse first and then arresting Min Jaeho for good. 

“He’s not talking to us and we can only hold him in custody for 24 hours. Finding the corpse in that time and identifying it as Park Joowon is almost impossible,” Jihoon told the alpha matter of factly and the other started walking around the room like he had done before many times when he was slightly tense. 

“I know. The problem is that as soon as we start the search, Min Jaeho will know what we are doing. He’ll go completely out of control. He’ll go into hiding and kill people again. We can’t risk that. We need to take him into custody.”

“But it’s impossible to get an arrest warrant in 24 hours!” The idea didn’t sit well with Jihoon. His voice rang loudly through the room, but it didn’t seem to bother Soonyoung who was still looking very determined. 

“At least we can be sure he won’t kill anyone in these 24 hours and maybe we can even get something out of him when he’s at the police station. And we really have to try hard to find the corpse and get an arrest warrant. It’s the only way we can be sure he won’t kill again. What do you think about it, Wonwoo?”

Jihoon looked now over at Wonwoo who had been very quiet the whole time, probably considering the alphas idea. “Soonyoung is right. He’ll know and go into hiding. Our only chance is to get an arrest warrant in 24 hours. If we don’t manage that, he’ll slip through our fingers.” Jihoon didn’t like the idea, but he could understand where both Soonyoung and Wonwoo were coming from. He had a bad feeling about the whole thing and his instincts as a police officer were rather sharp, but he couldn’t argue with their reasoning just based on his gut feeling.

“I’ll talk to the chief now and as soon as the team for the search is ready, Wonwoo and I go and bring Min Jaeho to the police station. We have to hurry, time is running out.”

Yes, time was running out. They only had a bit more than 24 hours to prove that Min Jaeho was guilty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) Sorry for being a bit late with the update, but I’ve been super busy and tired. I felt also a bit unhappy with the last chapter, because it seemed to be a bit too long to digest it well. That left me a bit demotivated for a couple of days, but everything is fine now again :D Besides me still being busy haha
> 
> There isn’t a lot of action in this chapter because it focuses mostly on Jihoon’s unrequited feelings. Unrequited love is an ugly mess of emotions, where you love but want to stop, where you ask yourself what you could have done differently and what could have been. I guess everyone copes differently with getting rejected but one thing everyone probably has in common is the fact that you can’t just stop liking someone overnight. So Jihoon has to consider now what to do from now on. Since they both work together, he can’t just avoid Soonyoung. Fight or give up? Let’s see how things will turn out.
> 
> This was another not easy chapter for me, because writing about feelings is still not my forte. When I’m writing this stuff down it seems good, but when I edit it then it’s seems kinda meh to me lol. Oh well I can only try harder to get better.
> 
> The next chapter will be either massive again or I’ll have to break it into two parts. Either way, a lot will happen and I’m already excited :D Ahhh, so much is gonna happen now!! I’ll update most probably on Saturday again, but I can never tell for sure. If I decide to make the next chapter very long, I might not manage until Saturday… ahh, but I’ll try ^^
> 
> Thank you as always for reading and for commenting and cheering me on T_T Thank you really so much. I love you all <3
> 
> See you soon! Add my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel) for updates and stuff if you like. Also you can drop me a line on my [curious cat ](https://curiouscat.me/just_a_pinwheel) if you have a question or want to say something you can’t say here :D


	23. Not the Time for a Happy Ending

Jihoon watched Min Jaeho who was sitting in the interrogation room of the police station. The suspect couldn’t see him, because the police officer was looking through mirrored-glass. Jihoon had stared at the man for 10 minutes now, but he couldn’t find anything special in him. He looked like a normal guy. Jihoon wanted to know what his story was. What made him become a killer? But he probably wouldn’t get an answer to his questions today. Min Jaeho had a confident smirk on his lips and Jihoon was sure that he wouldn’t tell them anything useful.

The door to the interrogation room opened and Soonyoung made his way inside. He had a folder with documents in one of his hands and Jihoon knew exactly what was inside. The team had discussed earlier which questions to ask Min Jaeho and what kind of photos to show him. Jihoon had wanted to be part of the interrogation, but Soonyoung had refused him once more. He knew that the alpha just wanted to protect him, but it was bothering Jihoon. He was a police officer too after all and could take care of himself. 

“My name is Kwon Soonyoung. Nice to meet you.” Soonyoung went to Min Jaeho’s lawyer and shook his hand. The lawyer had a sour look on his face and a cold aura. There was no doubt that he would be difficult to deal with. 

“You have nothing on my client. He was merely working in an environment where a killer found his victims. Taking him into custody for that reason alone seems very unreasonable to me.” Soonyoung let go of the lawyer's hand and sat down on the chair opposite to Min Jaeho. 

“That is true, but we have new evidence.” The lawyer looked at Min Jaeho, but the suspect just shrugged and kept quiet.

Soonyoung took a photo out of the folder and put it in front of Min Jaeho onto the table. “Do you know this person?” Min Jaeho didn’t say a word when he saw the photo of Park Joowon. His lawyer didn’t even look at the photo. 

“I’m demanding to know why you took my client into custody.”

Soonyoung kept a straight face and moved the photo so it was in front of the lawyer. “This is Park Joowon. Your client's boyfriend or ex-boyfriend. We found his DNA in a barn, where a person had been obviously locked in for almost one year. Another officer and I have been locked into the same room by the killer we are searching for.” The lawyer finally looked at the photo, a slightly surprised look on his face. 

“That still doesn’t proof that my client has anything to do with your case.”

“That is true as well, but Min Jaeho was Park Joowon’s boyfriend, which makes him suspicious enough to contain him. Now tell me, when did you last see Park Joowon?” Min Jaeho smirked at the question and cocked his head slightly to the side. 

“I don’t like you. I won’t tell you anything. Maybe you can bring a colleague of yours? Someone who is a bit prettier.” Jihoon could see anger flickering in Soonyoung’s eyes, but he controlled himself well otherwise.

“I’m the leading officer in this case. You won’t talk to anyone else than me.” Min Jaeho’s smirk got wider at Soonyoung’s words. 

“I guess, I won’t tell you anything then.” Jihoon got annoyed by the suspect's cocky behavior and wanted to storm over into the interrogation room, but Wonwoo who was standing beside him grabbed his wrist tightly. 

“Don’t go. Soonyoung is right in not letting Min Jaeho see you. He just wants to play with the two of you.”

“Did he provoke Soonyoung like this too when you went to talk with him the first time?” Wonwoo nodded his head shortly. 

“Yeah, Soonyoung nearly snapped at that time. I almost couldn’t hold him back from murdering Min Jaeho. He’s doing much better now.” Jihoon could understand now why Soonyoung had never told him what Min Jaeho had said exactly. His words had probably mocked the profiler. Soonyoung as an alpha must have been very agitated, especially because Jihoon was involved. The omega didn’t want to read too much into it, but Soonyoung had flipped two times on that day because of him. Yes, they were colleagues, but Jihoon hoped it wasn’t just because of that. There was a warmth spreading through his body and he couldn't contain a slight smile. 

“You’re a creep, Jihoon. Why are you smiling like that now? You have been nothing else but annoyed by Soonyoung’s overbearing antics before.”

“But I didn’t know up to now that he had been close to murdering Min Jaeho, because he was so angry.” Wonwoo made a disgusted face. 

“Please don’t tell me you get off on people killing for you.” Jihoon hit his friend hard on the arm. “What the hell, Wonwoo? It just made me happy that he wants to protect me that much.” Wonwoo laughed quietly and rubbed his arm where Jihoon had hit him. 

“You’re so whipped for him even though he rejected you.” 

Jihoon looked over at Soonyoung who kept on asking questions, but Min Jaeho didn’t answer a single one of them. “Yeah, I know. I can’t help it.” Wonwoo patted his friend on the back while smiling gently at him. 

“What will you do now about your feelings?” Jihoon bit his lip while still watching Soonyoung who just got up from his seat. It was obvious that he had given up on the interrogation, because the suspect wasn’t saying anything. 

“I’m trying to figure that out right now, Wonwoo.”

Soonyoung walked to the door of the interrogation room and was just pushing down the door handle when Min Jaeho finally spoke again. “My offer still stands, I’ll talk if you send me a pretty officer.”

Soonyoung gripped the door handle harder and gave the suspect a murderous glare. “I won’t send anybody else in here. I think we are done for now. An officer will bring you back to your cell. You aren’t allowed to leave for the next 24 hours. If you want to talk to me, _my_ offer for a conversation still stands.” Soonyoung went out of the room without letting Min Jaeho say another word.

This interview had been useless. They needed to find proof that Min Jaeho was guilty fast.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What do we do now?” Jihoon, Soonyoung and Wonwoo were back in their office looking at each other slightly helplessly. 

“I don’t know Wonwoo, the only thing we can do is join Seokmin and Vernon who are supervising the search for the body.” Jihoon watched Soonyoung closely while the other was talking. There was a hint of something unpleasant on his scent, but Jihoon didn’t know if it was the result of the alpha being angry or something else. 

“You should let me talk to Min Jaeho.” The underlying unpleasantness on the alphas scent was suddenly flaring up when Soonyoung heard Jihoon’s proposal. He gave the omega a sharp look and Jihoon was now sure that Soonyoung was still agitated. 

“This is not up for discussion. No one else than me will talk to him. He’s just playing games. We should go and see if we can be of some help with the search. Most probably not, but sitting here doing nothing is also not helping.”

The three of them got up and made their way over to their police car. Jihoon was deep in thoughts the whole way to the farm, just like the other two who didn’t utter a single word. In contrast to his two colleagues, Jihoon was not contemplating the case, but the information he got from Wonwoo about Soonyoung earlier. If he put everything that Soonyoung had done together, it certainly seemed like some feelings were involved for the alpha too. It couldn’t be just his imagination, there certainly was something between them. Of course Soonyoung’s words of rejection were still resounding loudly in his head, but he couldn’t pay it so much mind anymore. Jihoon only wanted to see what the alpha had done for him, how he smiled at him and protected him. 

There was hope and if there was hope then maybe Jihoon should fight for his happy ending. No matter how long it might take. Jihoon smiled slightly and Wonwoo gave him immediately a questioning look, but the omega waved it off.

Jihoon looked out the car’s window and saw that they had almost arrived at the farm. It was time to concentrate on the case again. As soon as Soonyoung parked the car, Jihoon jumped out and looked around, but he couldn’t see any police officers. “I’ll call Seokmin,” Wonwoo said and Jihoon leaned against the car and waited for his friend to finish the call.

“He said they separated into two groups. Seokmin went with his group west and Vernon went with his group east. Maybe we should split up too?” Jihoon took a breath and just wanted to answer Wonwoo, when Soonyoung already started talking. 

“That’s a good idea. Jihoon and I got east and you go west.” Jihoon wanted to complain for a split second, but gave up on it immediately because he knew why Soonyoung did it. The profiler couldn’t let him go alone and he couldn’t trust another person with his safety. Not even Wonwoo. A smug smile spread on Jihoon’s lips for a moment, but he managed to straighten his face right afterwards. He didn’t want the alpha to see that his behavior made him happy at this point, when he had been complaining before about it.

“Alright, I’ll go and look at what Seokmin and his group are doing then. See you later.” Wonwoo moved into the western direction at once leaving Soonyoung and Jihoon behind alone. 

“Shall we?” Soonyoung asked and Jihoon simply nodded his head. They went east and walked quietly next to each other. Jihoon busily tried to think about something he could say to Soonyoung, but his mind was empty like a newly built house. While considering what to talk about, Jihoon didn’t watch his step and stumbled over a stone lying hidden in the grass. He tumbled to the side and already prepared himself to fall to the ground when two strong arms wrapped around his waist saving him from landing ungracefully in the dirt. He turned his head slightly to look at Soonyoung who had a small smile on his lips. Jihoon’s mind went blank instantly.

Soonyoung pulled him up, but didn’t let go of his Jihoon’s waist. The alpha’s scent was swirling around him reassuringly while pulling him in at the same time. The desire to be closer to Soonyoung was burning up inside Jihoon and he didn’t have the will to push these feelings aside. He needed to act on it.

Jihoon slowly reached out for the alpha and when he finally touched Soonyoung’s face, the other didn’t flinch away, but simply kept on looking him straight in the eyes. Jihoon wasn’t sure if that gesture was enough to interpret it as a sign that the alpha was okay with them kissing again. The only thing that Jihoon was sure of was the fact that Soonyoung’s scent was warm and inviting. That’s why he rose up onto his tiptoes and slowly got closer to the profiler.

“Hyung!!!” The moment Jihoon heard Vernon’s voice, the spell between him and Soonyoung broke and they sprung apart at once. Jihoon felt the disappointment gnawing at his heart, but he knew he had no right to feel this way. They were here for work. This was not the time for a scene straight out of a romance novel. They needed to find a corpse to prove a killer guilty. Soonyoung and him could settle their private business later.

Jihoon turned around to look at Vernon who had almost reached the two of them already. The omega glanced at Soonyoung for a second and the alpha looked slightly out of it. This reaction was satisfying enough for Jihoon at the moment, so he shoved all thoughts about what just happened out of his mind. “Hey, Vernon. Did you find anything?” Vernon had a smile on his face, but shook his head. 

“No, nothing. We didn’t find something on the farm, so we had to widen the search. The area around the farm is big. This might take a while. The leader of the search party keeps on saying that I’m in the way and he’s probably right. I’m of no help here.”

It was just like Soonyoung had predicted. Coming here was helping no one, but they couldn’t just wait in the police station for news. Min Jaeho was sitting in his cell counting happily down the time. The thought of not being able to help find the corpse that would prove his guilt was unbearable to Jihoon and it was most probably the same for his team members.

“Let’s try not to be too much in the way and help any way we can.” Jihoon and Vernon both nodded hearing Soonyoung’s words. They needed to find the corpse as soon as possible at any cost. They needed to arrest Min Jaeho once and for all.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They searched for hours and hours without any result. Finding a one year old corpse was difficult. The weather had already long ago destroyed all traces where the body was hidden. In a situation like this, dogs were the most reliable to find the bones of a dead person, but they didn’t even have that many well trained dogs to begin with.

Nevertheless all police officers were doing their best until late in the evening. When it was after 9PM, the leading officer of the search party was telling Jihoon, Soonyoung and Vernon to go home because in the dark they were no help at all. Jihoon could hear in his undertone that he wanted to say that they never had been a help to begin with, but barely stopped himself out of respect.

Soonyoung called Wonwoo and they all met up on the farm again to go back to the police station. There was nothing they could do now, but wait for good news. “We all should go home. There is nothing left to do for us at the moment.” No one answered Soonyoung, everyone just had a depressed look on their face. Wonwoo was the first one to turn around and walk to his car. Jihoon saw him getting his phone out at once, probably to call Mingyu.

Seokmin and Vernon said their goodbyes quickly and left Soonyoung and Jihoon behind alone. Jihoon considered what to say now, but Soonyoung beat him to it. “Let’s go home.” Jihoon knew what Soonyoung meant when he said that. ‘Let’s go home together, because it’s too dangerous for you alone.’. Jihoon didn’t even try to refuse him this time. He wanted to be together with the alpha for a bit longer. There was no point in denying it.

The two officers talked quietly about the case in the car and on the way to their flats. Soonyoung was a bit stiff the whole time and Jihoon was very sure it was the result of their almost-kiss a few hours ago.

Back at their apartment complex, Jihoon and Soonyoung slowly walked to the omegas flat, both only stopping when in front of the right door. Soonyoung stood there staring at the other with blank eyes and Jihoon couldn’t even guess what was going on in his head. In his own mind he could only think about their almost-kiss earlier. Maybe if he would start thinking right now about how much he wanted the other, it would influence the alpha. Maybe he could seduce him with his pheromones into kissing him. After all, it had already worked once.

The omega shook his head at his own thoughts. He was being ridiculous. He didn’t want to be influenced by Soonyoung’s pheromones, so he shouldn’t do it to the other. He didn’t even like his omega biology to begin with, he shouldn’t try using it to his advantage. It wouldn’t lead to anything, because influencing Soonyoung wouldn’t make him fall in love with him. It would be all useless.

“Good night,” the alpha said quietly and Jihoon only nodded his head as answer, turned around to open his door and went into his flat. The silence of his living space was suffocating him at once. He couldn’t stay here right now, he had to talk to someone. He had just gone into dangerous territory with his thoughts and he needed to sort out everything.

Jihoon stared at the clock for five minutes to be sure Soonyoung would be gone and left his flat again to make his way over to the third floor. He rang the doorbell to Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s flat and the latter opened the door for him looking slightly confused. “Jihoonie, I didn’t expect you today. Did something happen?” Jihoon shook his head and went quietly into the flat and threw himself face down onto the couch. 

“I didn’t want to be alone,” he muttered into a cushion.

“Is it because of Soonyoung again?” Jihoon heard footsteps coming from the kitchen and it could have been no one else than Seungcheol. 

“No, it's nothing.” He heard a low chuckle from a distance away, but didn’t bother looking up. 

“Ji, you’re lying face down on our couch late in the evening. It’s difficult to believe that nothing has happened.” Jihoon finally turned his head to the side to see Seungcheol and Jeonghan standing side by side looking judgingly at him. 

“I like Soonyoung so much.”

Seungcheol was smiling brightly at him, but Jeonghan gave him an annoyed look. “Jihoonie, he refused you and broke your heart. He influenced you with his pheromones and to top it all, he kissed you and said that he was sorry about it. You really should try to forget him.” Jihoon suddenly sat up on the couch and glared at Jeonghan. 

“I don’t even care what he did! I just want him to like me back! Why can’t he like me back?”

Jeonghan looked taken aback and even Seungcheol seemed to be slightly surprised by Jihoon’s sudden outburst. “Forget him, please. He’s not good for you. He’s a cold person. He won’t like you back.” Jihoon’s face distorted angrily hearing Jeonghan’s words. 

“I can’t forget him! I like him too much. It’s burnt into my very core. Maybe it would be a bit easier when I could finally take my suppressants again, then I wouldn’t have smell his scent anymore. His scent is always telling me that everything will be alright and that we belong together. It wraps around me, whispers to me. I can’t escape it and truthfully said I don’t want to. I just want him to like me too. I only want him.”

Jeonghan walked over to Jihoon and sat down beside him on the couch. He took one of his hands into his and gave him a gentle smile. “But he rejected you. You have to forget him. I know it’s hard, but…” Jihoon harshly pulled his hand away from Jeonghan, even more agitated than before. 

“Who are you to tell me that I should forget him just because I got rejected once? You rejected Seungcheol hyung for months!” Jeonghan cleared his throat, obviously having difficulties explaining himself. 

“That was just a game between alpha and omega. I always liked Cheol, I just needed some time. Courting is an important part in the alpha-omega-dynamic.”

Jihoon huffed loudly. “Good for you that you knew about everything being an important part of the alpha-omega-dynamic. Seungcheol-hyung visited me countless times for months with bags of alcohol saying that his life was over because a certain Yoon Jeonghan didn’t want him. Seems like you forgot to tell Seungcheol-hyung that he was in the courting phase.” 

Seungcheol made a shocked noise and hurried over to the couch. “Ji, how can you tell Hannie something like this? It wasn’t that bad.” Jihoon looked unimpressed at his hyung. 

“Don’t be ridiculous! You kept on crying over Jeonghan-hyung for weeks! You are both not any better than Soonyoung and I.” Seungcheol sighed loudly and dropped down between Jihoon and Jeonghan onto the couch.

“So, what really happened today that made you come here?” Jihoon looked at the clock at the wall opposite to him. The ticking was loud and he was asking himself how Seungcheol could stand it when Soonyoung hated it so much. The omega immediately chuckled loudly at his own thoughts. He really could only think about the alpha. 

“When he dropped me off... I thought about seducing him.” Seungcheol suddenly started laughing loudly and Jihoon couldn’t help feeling offended. 

“Ji, you have never seduced anyone. You don’t even know how it’s working.” Jihoon glared at Seungcheol. He was close to kicking the alpha in the shin, when Jeonghan did just that. The alpha winced slightly in pain. 

“Shut it, Cheol. Jihoonie would do just fine. The problem here is that he shouldn’t even think about something like that when Soonyoung had been behaving like a bastard.” Jihoon first glared at Jeonghan and then at Seungcheol. 

“Yeah, I would do just fine. I might not know a lot about acting like an omega, but I‘m not completely clueless. I know how I can influence Soonyoung.” Jeonghan leaned over Seungcheol and grabbed Jihoon’s arm. 

“And then what? Do you want Soonyoung to tell you again that he’s sorry afterwards?“ 

Jihoon looked a couple of times from Jeonghan to Seungcheol and back. His feelings were suddenly completely clear to him. Though, he couldn’t pinpoint what the reason for his certainess was. Maybe it was Jeonghan’s extreme negativity or it had been the happenings through the day leading up to this very moment, but he knew exactly what he wanted and what he needed to do now. “I know, I might be dumb as fuck for thinking like that, but I can’t give up right now. You two should both understand me and support me and not tell me the whole time that he’s not worth it. You don’t know Soonyoung like I know him. I knew him in the past and I know his current self and I like both sides of him, because in the end it’s all Soonyoung. I know he’s not perfect, but I’m also not perfect. No one is and you should know that too.” 

Seungcheol and Jeonghan were both spotting a slightly guilty expression, but Jeonghan switched to a happy smile very fast. “I never expected you to fiercely defend the person you like one day. It’s very endearing. You’re right, we should support you if you like him that much. Fight for him, Jihoonie. And if he’s being an idiot, just tell me and I’ll hit him again.” Jihoon sprang up from the couch and hurried over to the door. He had to get it out of it system immediately, now that he was sure what he wanted. 

“Wish me luck!!!” He screamed loudly and ran out of the flat without waiting for an answer. He continuously hit the button of the elevator, because it took a lot longer than normal for the elevator to arrive. Or maybe it just seemed that way because he couldn’t await to see Soonyoung.

He jumped into the elevator as soon as it arrived and got off just as fast when he stopped on the right floor. He walked with big steps to Soonyoung’s flat and rang the doorbell - only once because he knew the alpha was sensitive to loud sounds.

Soonyoung opened the door and a rush of adrenaline went through Jihoon when he saw the other. He wasn’t confused anymore and his feelings seemed to be clearer than ever. This wasn’t like the evening he had been confessing to Soonyoung, because there was no need to be nervous. He knew that he wouldn’t get his happy ending today, but he could work for his happy end from now on. Love was only love. It wasn’t as complicated as he made it out to be the whole time. He just liked Soonyoung and it was as simple as that. He couldn’t give up now.

“Soonyoung, I have something to say.” The alpha seemed to be slightly taken aback by Jihoon’s sudden appearance. 

“Jihoon, it’s late. We have a hard day ahead of us.” The omega confidently took a step closer and looked Soonyoung straight into the eyes. 

“Then I‘ll make it short. I can’t give you up that easily. You seem to think that my feelings aren’t genuine, but I do like you a lot. I‘m not sure yet how I should prove to you that my feelings are real, but I‘ll think about something. Keep on running away from me Soonyoung. The faster you run, the harder I‘ll chase you.” Jihoon stepped even closer to Soonyoung and pulled him down to plant a short kiss on his lips. The omega pushed the other away immediately afterwards and gave him a small smile. His lips were tingling and the scent of coffee and mint was caressing him softly. This felt perfect. 

“Good night.”

Jihoon turned around, walked as fast as possible back to his own flat and opened the door with shaking fingers. As soon as he was inside the flat, he threw the door shut and slid down to the floor. His heart was beating like crazy in his chest, but there was a wide smile on his lips. He felt like a teenager who gave his crush the first kiss. Jihoon didn’t remember when he felt that genuinely happy the last time. Soonyoung might not like him the same way he was liking the alpha in the moment, but that was okay for now. He was happily in love and could wait until his feelings would reach the other.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was almost time to leave for work the next day and Jihoon had felt giddy the whole morning. He couldn’t wait to see Soonyoung again. He expected the profiler to tell him off once more, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was okay with everything as long as they would start communicating with each other now. Jihoon was sure that he would be able to show Soonyoung sooner or later that his feelings were genuine and then the alpha would hopefully start reciprocating them. He knew there was something between them - always had been and always would be. They didn’t find to each other for such a long time that it was okay for Jihoon to wait a bit longer now. But he wouldn’t give up. Never ever.

Of course Jihoon knew that it was inappropriate to think about Soonyoung the whole time when he had a case to worry about. There were only four more hours left until they couldn’t detain Min Jaeho any longer. The killer would murder then another person and that person might be even him.

Jihoon looked over at his door and his thoughts immediately went back to Soonyoung. Maybe he should go outside and look if the profiler had already arrived. He was sure that the other wouldn’t let him go alone to work.

Jihoon got up from the couch, grabbed his coat and left the flat. As predicted, Soonyoung was already waiting for him outside. “Let’s go, we have work to do,” the profiler said and turned around to leave a dumbfounded Jihoon behind. That had been a harsher reaction to what happened the day before than he had expected.

The omega hurried after Soonyoung and managed to get into the elevator just before the doors closed. “Do you have nothing more to say?” Soonyoung looked away from Jihoon and didn’t answer him. Jihoon could deal with anything but silence. 

“Why are you such a coward and never talk to me?” The elevator was pinging loudly as a sign they had arrived in the underground parking. Soonyoung got out first and went into the direction of his car. He unlocked the doors immediately and just when he wanted to open the driver’s door Jihoon grabbed his arm harshly. “Talk to me you idiot! Tell me you don’t want me or whatever, but at least talk to me!” Soonyoung took Jihoon’s hand that was holding onto him strongly and pulled it off. He tried to open the door again, but Jihoon was holding him off stubbornly once more.

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you! It’s not like I have a choice here. You decided to go after me either way!” Jihoon felt a pang in his chest hearing the words. He knew that Soonyoung wouldn’t react positively, but it hurt nevertheless. 

“Still I want to know what you are thinking,” Jihoon told the alpha seriously. He really didn’t expect much. He only needed some kind of reaction he could work with.

“I’m thinking nothing.” Jihoon huffed loudly. The omega pulled the other harshly closer to him, so their faces were only inches apart. 

“You also think nothing right now?” Soonyoung’s scent shifted and Jihoon knew what it meant this time. The alpha didn’t need to answer him anymore, because he could read it all on his scent. Jihoon let Soonyoung go and went over to the passenger's door and sat down in the car. The alpha was busy with starting the engine already when Jihoon fastened the seatbelt. The profiler looked slightly absent-mindedly and Jihoon couldn’t help smiling about it.

“I’ll wait for you, Soonyoung. No matter how long it takes.” Soonyoung drove off and Jihoon was sure he saw something like affection glowing in the other’s eyes. It was the same emotion he had sensed from the alphas scent just a minute earlier. For now this was enough for Jihoon, he didn’t want to pressure the other any more than that. Being able to hope that his feelings will be reciprocated one day was enough.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Back at the police station, nothing worked out in favor of Soonyoung’s team. The alpha kept on calling the search party, but they still hadn’t found the corpse. Soonyoung even tried to talk to Min Jaeho again, but he only came back more agitated than before. There was nothing they could do and time was running out.

In the end, they had to release Min Jaeho when the 24 hours were up. The body of Park Joowon still hadn’t been found. Only a bit after 4PM the news reached them that the search party had recovered bones of a human. It would take some time to bring the bones to the forensic science department to analyse if the skeleton was indeed Park Joowon. It would take even more time to get an arrest warrant after receiving a positive result from the forensic science department. They would most probably not be able to arrest Min Jaeho before tomorrow and then again, Jihoon was very sure that Min Jaeho went into hiding already. A chase for the killer would start and it wouldn’t be easy to find him. Hopefully he wouldn’t kill another person before they could catch him.

It was close to 7PM when Jihoon leaned back in his chair looking at his team tiredly. Everyone was busily reading something, trying to ignore their failure of arresting Min Jaeho in time. Jihoon just wanted to get up to fetch another coffee when he saw an incoming call on his phone. It was from an unknown number and he normally never picked these up, but something made him reach for the phone today. He quickly answered the call with a casual hello and there wasn’t any response for a moment. 

A shiver went down Jihoon’s spine when the person on the other side of the line finally spoke up. He knew that arrogant voice, because he had heard it just yesterday while looking through mirrored-glass into the interrogation room.

“Hello, officer Lee. It’s nice to finally talk to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) It’s me again, the lady with the cliffhangers lol. I planned this chapter a bit differently, but I got some ideas a couple of days before writing and also while writing… sometimes things I’ve planned are just not adding up or lacking in the context of the last chapter. For example I didn’t plan that scene where Jihoon goes to Soonyoung and tells him he won’t give him up. But that scene was actually necessary. And scene afterwards just came to me while writing. I blame it on being frustrated with all the slow burn at this point. Bloody stubborn Soonyoung. I just want to write a happy romance right now T_T But it’s difficult for me to get out of this awkward situation between them right now. It’s not like I could just make Soonyoung say “Now that you’ve said you won’t give up on me, I won’t be a stubborn idiot anymore. Let’s start dating.” LOL. I digged my own grave haha. But it’s okay. I have plans and everything will be fine :D
> 
> I don’t really know if this chapter is good or not. It was the easiest to write and edit since quite some time, but that doesn’t mean anything. I hope it was a bit more exciting and eventful than last one! But then again, I decided not to worry so much anymore if a chapter is very good or not. In the end, I can only write what I’m capable of lol
> 
> Next chapter will start off in Jihoon’s pov and then go over into Soonyoung’s pov. It will be a chapter with lots of action, I think. Now that the killer is free again, pretty much anything can happen. And things will happen...
> 
> I’m still not sure when I’ll update next. Maybe next Saturday or only the week afterwards. It will be Christmas next week and I’ve been a bit tired of writing lately. It’s difficult for me at this point to still see something positive in my writing and I’m just constantly pressuring myself. Makes my writing also noticeably worse. Writing should be fun, so I should try to learn to not pressure myself all the time. But yeah, who knows I might be really creative next week and already update on Saturday. If not, I’ll update the week afterwards for sure.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who is still reading! Thank you also for always cheering me on when I’m down. I have been down because of my writing too much lately, so I’ll try to be more positive again! Lots of love to you <3
> 
> Btw, it’s halftime for Code Red now!! I think not all of you know that hehe. I have been writing now over 90.000 words in the last four months and might end up writing another 90.000 words. Please stay tuned :D
> 
> See you soon! You can add me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel) for updates and stuff if you like. Also you can drop me a line on my [curious cat ](https://curiouscat.me/just_a_pinwheel) :D
> 
> PS: Jihoon is so cute in this chapter. It’s giving me cavity.


	24. The Decisions We Make

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is some graphic description of violence in the middle part of this chapter. Please skip it if it makes you feel uncomfortable

The time had finally come. Jihoon wasn’t surprised hearing Min Jaeho talking calmly to him over the phone. It was something that needed to happen one day. He was the murderer’s prey after all.

The omega looked around to see if one of his team members had noticed him picking up the call, but everyone was preoccupied with other things. He considered getting their attention somehow, but Min Jaeho was already starting to talk again. “Listen officer Lee, I’m very close to killing a person right now and if you don’t do exactly what I tell you, I’ll cut this call and end his life at once. If you‘ve understood me, answer with yes.“ 

Jihoon’s mind worked fast trying to analyse the situation. Min Jaeho was probably trying to lure him into a trap, but there wasn’t anything else he could do right now than listen to the man or he would risk putting the life of a person on line. Jihoon was sure that the killer wasn’t merely bluffing when he said he’s close to killing someone. 

“Yes.“ 

Min Jaeho made an acknowledging noise and went on talking. “I’ll tell you now an address which you will write down on a piece of paper. We’ll end the call afterwards and you’ll turn off your phone then and lay it on the table. I’ll call a minute later to check if you really did so. If not, it means instant death to the omega beside me and I’ll be out of here immediately, so you won’t catch me. After we cut the call, you’ll leave the police station without attracting attention or telling your colleagues and come here. I can hack into any camera, I’ll know if you did what I told you. Don’t try to do any funny things, it will only lead to the death of the omega beside. If you understood everything, answer with yes.”

Jihoon knew he should say no. Min Jaeho wanted to kill him and if he would go there without any backup, the situation would be very dangerous for him. But he was a police officer and the responsibility to save a person’s life was heavy on his shoulders. He couldn’t just ignore the fact that someone would die, if he didn’t go to that address right now. 

“Your answer officer Lee?”

“Yes, okay.” Jihoon heard a laugh from the other end of the line. 

“Good decision. I’ll tell you now the address and you’ll write it down. Afterwards you’ll come here immediately with your private car and not the police car. Park your car two blocks from here. Start writing down now.” The police officer wrote the address the killer told him on a piece of paper and just when he finished writing, the line was cut. Jihoon turned his phone off, put it on the table and looked around. Wonwoo, Seokmin and Vernon didn’t behave like they had noticed that something strange was going on. Soonyoung was luckily in his own office or the alpha would have known immediately Jihoon was behaving oddly. He seemed to be especially sensitive to smells and would have noticed Jihoon’s slight nervousness at once.

Jihoon needed more time to make a plan, but he didn’t have the time right now. A person’s life was on the line and he had to take action immediately. He got up as naturally as possible and went out of the office the same way he would do when going to the toilet, not taking along his coat or any of his belongings. He only held the paper with the address tightly in one of his hands, his car key was like always in one of the pockets of his pants.

After he reached his car, he hurried inside and drove off. He was crazy for doing this, there was no doubt about it. Min Jaeho had thought about everything. He had hacked into certain cameras to watch him closely, so he would know if he was following his orders or not. On top of that, he made him use his private car which his colleagues wouldn’t be able to track and his phone was still at the police station. And even if the other’s would find him at one point, if he would park his car two blocks away, it would take time to find him. All in all, he was sure his friends wouldn’t be able to find him any time soon. He would need to handle this situation all by himself.

Jihoon was known to be a crazy dog. This wasn’t the first time he was running alone right into danger. In the end all situations worked out in his favor and he hoped that this one would be the same. He just needed to overpower the killer and knock him out. The other was a lot bigger than him, but Jihoon had trained martial arts for years to no end. He was sure he could win any fight. He wouldn’t die there today. He would make sure to win this game.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon stood in front of a big apartment complex. There was another big complex like this right next to it and two more on the opposite side. No one would ever find him in this maze of never ending flats. He was really on his own here.

The omega heard an electronic noise and turned his head up. A surveillance camera close to him had moved and he was sure that Min Jaeho was watching him right now. He felt a shiver running down his spine, but his face remained emotionless. The key to make it out alive was keeping his calm. He had to act rational and composed or he would be dead in no time.

Jihoon took a deep breath and made his way to the third floor of the building. The apartment complex was old and run down, so there wasn’t an elevator he could use. He walked slowly up the stairs because he would need all his energy to challenge Min Jaeho. Moreover, he still had the faint hope that his colleagues might find him somehow. It was highly unlikely, but stalling some time seemed to be a good choice.

The police officer stopped in front of flat number 312. It was just another grey door like all the others he had passed, but this one looked a lot more ominous because he knew who was waiting for him behind it. He looked around but couldn’t see a surveillance camera up here, which wasn’t surprising because the building was much too old to have cameras installed everywhere. He laid the paper with the address under the worn out doormat so it was still visible and hoped it could be of some use when his friends would come looking for him. Jihoon chuckled lightly at his own thoughts. Even though it was almost impossible that anyone would find him here, he just couldn’t give up the hope.

Jihoon took his gun out and released the safety. He opened the door and made his way slowly into the flat while holding his gun in front of him. There was a scent of lilies and apples in the air and he was sure it was the scent of the omega living here. Jihoon went through a short corridor and arrived in the living room where he immediately spotted Min Jaeho. He sat on the floor, back to the wall holding an unconscious person in front of him. The killer smirked at him while pressing a knife hard against that person’s throat. There was a notebook beside him, probably showing him the videos of certain surveillance cameras.

“Officer Lee, you made it. What a pleasure.” Jihoon took another couple of steps closer and aimed the gun at Min Jaeho. 

“I can’t really say the same thing,” he gritted out feeling disgusted with the alpha in front of him. His scent was a mix of wood and herbs that were highly unpleasant to Jihoon. On top of that he could smell the chloroform the killer had used to drug the omega. It made Jihoon feel slightly sick. A heightened sense of smell was very disturbing in such a situation.

“First of all, you should put your gun away or this poor omega will be dead very fast.” Jihoon couldn’t help chuckling darkly. 

“If you kill him, I’ll kill you instantly.” Min Jaeho’s smirk became considerably wider and it disgusted Jihoon. That guy was a complete lunatic. 

“But aren’t you here to rescue him, officer Lee? You know, I did my research about you. You’re an officer who would do anything to rescue a person’s life. That’s why you are here, right? So lay the gun on the table at the far end of the room and come back here afterwards.”

Jihoon considered his choices. He could try shooting Min Jaeho, but the killer had been clever to choose the position he was in. He was holding the omega so close that he could probably use him as a shield if Jihoon would try to shoot. Jihoon couldn’t risk that because Min Jaeho had been right in what he had said. He came here to rescue a life. The omega would need to find another way to save the unconscious man. First of all he needed to separate Min Jaeho from his hostage.

The officer walked over to said table, laid the gun down and returned to the spot where he had stood before. “Now let him go.” Min Jaeho hummed lowly at Jihoon’s words. 

“You’re not making the rules here. I am. So first of all strip.” Jihoon balled his fists hearing the command. He knew why the man asked him to take his clothes off. He always killed his victims while they were naked.

For a slight moment, panik went through Jihoon. He might really die here. He wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to his parents whom he hadn’t even called for weeks and he wouldn’t be able to talk to his friends again. Also, his love for Soonyoung would never get reciprocated. His heart would stop beating without ever having had the chance to feel real love. Love that wasn’t one sided, but that was complete and happy and perfect. Suddenly Jihoon really wanted to see Soonyoung. He didn’t want to die here.

“Why did you kill all these people?” Min Jaeho rolled his head from side to side like he was thinking intensely. 

“What are you trying to do? Stalling time? There is no use in that. No one will find you here.” Jihoon knew that too. Still it felt like the only reasonable thing he could do at the moment. Just letting himself get killed was hardly an option. 

“I’m a police officer. You should know that I would be interested in these kinds of things. I need to know why you did it.”

Min Jaeho clicked his tongue at Jihoon’s explanation. “So you want to know why you’ll die? Fine, if it’s that important to you, I’ll explain it.” The killer looked like he was deep in thought and Jihoon considered running away. In all the years he worked as a police officer, he didn’t even think once about running away. He had always jumped straight into the danger and handled it well, but this situation was different. It was a lot more dangerous because the murderer was highly intelligent and was holding a hostage. On top of that, he was the killer's target and Jihoon had neither backup nor a plan what to do. He needed to figure out something while Min Jaeho was talking.

“Joowon and I were happy for a long time. I knew that the broken bond with his ex-alpha was still an obstacle for him when we first met, but I gave him all the time in the world to adjust. I thought we were fine, but nothing was fine at all. After dating for two years, I believed it was time to talk about bonding and about children, but as soon as I started with that topic, he closed off completely. Said that we should better break up.” This story was quite different from what Jihoon had imagined. Some things weren’t really adding up, but then again criminals often had a different perception. They made up their own reality.

“I couldn’t let him simply walk away. I thought he was just confused, so I locked him in. I had no other choice. We belonged together and he needed to wake up.” Min Jaeho looked down at the sleeping omega whom he was still threatening to kill with holding a knife to his neck. “I talked to him countless times, but it was of no use. He said that he couldn’t mate again and it had been nice to be together with me, but it wasn’t the same as being together with his ex-alpha. Our relationship didn’t have the same value.” Jihoon couldn’t imagine how it would be to be bonded, even less he could imagine how it would be to break a bond. He already had a bad breakdown because of a rejection. Breaking a bond must be a thousand times worse.

“One day when I was visiting him in the barn, he had been completely out of his mind. He screamed at me that I was a monster. That I always had been too aggressive and too self-absorbed. That even without his broken bond he would have never mated me and especially would have never considered having children with me because it would be a mistake to carry my DNA on. He said I was just a pastime because no one else wanted to be together with a broken omega like him. That’s when I snapped. I had been peeling an apple and the knife in my hand suddenly looked like a good friend.” 

The story slowly started making sense to Jihoon. Min Jaeho had probably been really aggressive in their relationship from the very beginning and Park Joowon only accepted that because he believed that he wouldn’t find someone better. But when the alpha asked his partner to bond, Park Joowon tried to back out of the relationship because he knew the other was too dangerous. He should have left him a lot sooner, maybe then his fate wouldn’t have turned out so cruel. He had been locked in for almost a year. It was admirable the omega didn’t go berserk earlier. It must have been a horrible time for him, but of course Min Jaeho couldn’t see that. He only saw what he wanted to see.

“I walked over to Jowoon and cut open his throat. It was so difficult to cut deep enough, but the result was very satisfying. Blood spilt out of the cut down my hands and his body and it was warmer than Joowon had ever been to me. The light in his eyes was vanishing and he looked for the first time since I met him peacefully. I released him from a life full of agony and pain.” Jihoon made a disgusted face. At this point, he wasn’t surprised that Min Jaeho thought like this. His reality was completely distorted.

“Why did you start killing other people? The relationship between you and Park Joowon was personal, but you didn’t really know the other people.” Jihoon actually didn’t need an answer. He knew why Min Jaeho kept on killing - because he enjoyed it. It was obvious from the way he talked about the time he murdered Park Joowon.

“I didn’t plan on killing someone else, but when I got that job to install surveillance cameras at the organisation who helps omegas who were left alone by their alphas, I couldn’t just look away. All of them were like Joowon. They were living a painful life and needed to be set free.” Jihoon felt appalled. Killers who thought they were doing a good deed were some of the worst to talk to. Not only did they see nothing wrong in what they did, but they even believed to help people by murdering them. It was plain sickening.

“I want to help you too, officer Lee.” Jihoon looked confused at Min Jaeho. His words didn’t make any sense, because Jihoon didn’t fit into his type of prey. “Kwon Soonyoung thinks he is such a slick guy. Thought he could outwit me easily, but he just led you right into my trap. He’s nothing more than a fool.” Right, everything started off with Soonyoung challenging the killer. Somewhere along the way Min Jaeho’s reality probably shifted again and he must have tried to find a way to punish Soonyoung.

“When I saw you being crestfallen after his rejection, I knew you were in the same pain as Joowon. Kwon Soonyoung is a bad person. He rejected you and destroyed your life. He used his power as an alpha to make you feel like a lesser being.”

“No, Soonyoung isn’t like this,” Jihoon answered at once. The alpha chuckled lowly at Jihoon’s words and it made the police officer angry for the first time this evening. He really tried to keep his cool, but he couldn’t help feeling agitated that the killer tried to make Soonyoung into such a bad person. Jihoon’s heart knew Soonyoung better. Many years ago, Soonyoung had been the purest and nicest person he had ever met, but life made him tough. Yes, he had hurt Jihoon, but he still wanted to believe in Soonyoung. His heart might be frozen right now, but it would warm up again one day. Jihoon had seen his gentle smile and his worried face. No, Soonyoung wasn’t cold at all. He was warmer than the sun, but he just couldn’t show it properly right now.

“It’s cute how you keep on believing in that alpha trash. He broke your heart, but you still love him. You are just the same as all the others. No one wants to see the truth that your alpha won’t care about you anymore. That’s why I’m the only one who can help you. Death is better than to live a life in agony and pain.” Jihoon’s fingers trembled slightly. He hated that man in front of him. He was the real alpha trash.

“You’re deciding about the life and death of other persons, there is nothing noble about that. You are just a killer trying to justify his actions through a pitiful story! You’ll have to pay for what you have done.”

“Yes, maybe I have to do that one day. But today won’t be that day because I’ll make sure to kill you right here. I’ll kill you and let that pathetic excuse of an alpha find your dead body. How do you think he will react? Will he cry and shout? Will he lose his mind in grief? He might even regret rejecting you then. I can’t wait to see it.” Jihoon was so angry that he almost couldn’t hold himself back anymore. Just the mention of his alpha being in pain made his mind haze up slightly. He didn’t even care how Min Jaeho was talking about killing him, he only cared about Soonyoung’s wellbeing. 

Jihoon felt himself slipping deeper and deeper into his omega mind and he knew it was getting dangerous for him at this point. If he would slip away completely, he was as good as dead. Jihoon shook his head hard from right to left and pressed his nails into the palm of his hands until it hurt. His mind cleared up a bit again and he took a couple of deep breaths. He shouldn’t let himself be manipulated like this by a criminal. This never happened to him before. But then again, no one tried to use his biology ever against him. Min Jaeho knew exactly which buttons to push to make him flip. He really was clever. Jihoon had to be cautious.

“How did you even know that Soonyoung rejected me?” Min Jaeho leaned a bit forward and then back against the wall again. 

“I hacked into the surveillance camera in front of the coffee shop where you met up with my employee. You didn’t really expect me to not know that you called him, did you? Of course I made copies of my employees phones. I’m not an idiot.” They really should have expected that. They had been careless.

“I think we talked enough. We should finish this now, don’t you think?” Jihoon immediately tried to find another topic to talk about. He needed more time. He still didn’t know how to bring Min Jaeho down.

“Why should I trust you that you won’t kill him too after you killed me?” Jihoon pointed at the omega who was still lying lifeless in the hold of Min Jaeho, but the killer only stared back at him with void eyes. It creeped Jihoon out. Every second in one room together with that psycho was one second too long. 

“You know my patterns. I don’t kill two people on the same day. One is enough for me and right now you are my target. I don’t even want this guy. I only want to see how the light leaves your eyes when I cut your throat open.” Jihoon took a step back without noticing it. He could hear in Min Jaeho’s voice that he slowly got impatient. He needed to decide right now what he should do. Make a run for it and save his own life, but leave behind the hostage or try to fight Min Jaeho.

“And now let’s get back to the fun part. Clothes off.” Jihoon took a deep breath. His mind was still busily trying to find an answer how to handle the situation, but nothing seemed to make sense. He couldn’t leave the hostage behind, but he also couldn’t risk getting himself killed.

“CLOTHES OFF I SAID OR HE’S DEAD! I might make an exception today and kill you both!” Min Jaeho pushed the knife harder against the omegas throat and Jihoon could see blood starting to seep out of a small wound. He had no choice but to give in when he wanted to rescue the hostage. He could still fight Min Jaeho in a hand-to-hand-combat, he didn’t need his clothes for that.

Jihoon ripped his clothes off without care until he was naked save for his underwear. Min Jaeho smirked at him and suddenly let the hostage go. He shoved the omega carelessly to the side and got up from the floor. He pointed the knife at Jihoon and slowly took two steps closer to the police officer.

“Your pain will be over soon, don’t worry.” Min Jaeho lunged forward and Jihoon avoided him with trained reflexes. The omega gripped onto the arm of the bigger man that was holding the knife and tried to disarm him, but the alpha punched him hard in the face and Jihoon stumbled back slightly. “Resistance is no use. Don’t struggle so much, I hate ruining your pretty face.”

“Shut your fucking mouth you psycho!” Jihoon kicked Min Jaeho in the shin, but the alpha didn’t even flinch and just lunged forward with the knife again, missing Jihoon by only an inch.

Jihoon just wanted to strike another attack when Min Jaeho pulled with his free hand a gun out of the back of his pants pointing it at the police officer. He should have known the killer would have a backup plan like this, but he didn’t expect Min Jaeho to carry a gun when he had been killing all his victims with a knife. He made a miscalculation.

It would have been better if he had run away after all. Jihoon had lost the game.

“It was nice playing with you, but now let me kill you.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung was annoyed and tired. He was staring every few minutes at his phone, but it just didn’t want to ring. At this point he was sure that they wouldn’t get the DNA result today. They would have to go home without being able to do something to catch Min Jaeho. Soonyoung had considered observing the killer today, but it was hopeless. He had already called Min Jaeho‘s office, but his employee hadn’t seen his boss the last two days. Going to his flat would probably be a waste of time too. He already went into hiding.

Soonyoung got up and made his way over to his team‘s open-plan office. He saw Wonwoo, Seokmin and Vernon being busy with god knows what, but Jihoon was nowhere to be found. „Where’s Jihoon?“ The three officer‘s looked up at their team leader, confusion obvious in their eyes. „I don’t know. He went outside maybe 10 minutes ago? I thought he went to the toilet.“ Soonyoung had a bad premonition. Something wasn’t right. He walked over to Jihoon’s desk and saw his phone lying there. He picked it up and noticed that it was turned off. „No, no, no...“

He ran like a crazy person out of the office and stormed inside the closest bathroom of the police station. It was empty. Soonyoung ran back to the office where the other’s had gotten up staring at their team leader in shock. „Jihoon’s phone is turned off! He would never turn it off without reason because he knows that they would either call him or me because of the DNA results. He’s gone! Why didn’t you have an eye on him?? You know how he is!!“

Soonyoung was screaming at them and the two younger members looked like they were slightly scared of him, only Wonwoo managed to step forward and answer the alpha. „We can’t supervise him all the time! It didn’t look suspicious when he went outside. He didn’t even take his things or coat with him. How should we have known?“

“You normally know everything! You should have held him back!!! He’s your friend!” Wonwoo took Soonyoung’s arm trying to calm him down, but the alpha ripped it out of his hold at once. Soonyoung felt panic and nausea rising up in him so strongly that he felt like passing out. Fear was clouding all his senses like a narcotic.

“Don’t you all understand what this means? Jihoon is on the way to meet the killer and we might not make it in time to save him! We might never see Jihoon alive again!!”

Soonyoung looked at his team members in agony while panting from screaming loudly. He felt slightly dizzy and his heart was beating irregularly in his chest. 

If he could never see Jihoon again, his heart might as well stop beating right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I don’t even know what I should say today. Is this another cliffhanger? Probably yes D: 
> 
> This chapter was horrible to write and I don’t even know how it must have been to read it D: Trying to get into the head of a killer is creepy af and I’m pretty sure I never want to write a crime novel ever in my life. Still I hope I did well somehow.
> 
> Next chapter we’ll start off where this chapter ended, so in Soonyoung’s pov. Let’s see what our team leader will do now. He’ll better not lose his cool D: 
> 
> I don’t really have more to add today. So thank you for reading! And I want to thank today especially everyone who regularly leaves comments T_T <3 Thank you for taking the time to write here. Your comments are what keeps me going on a bad day. Every word and line you write me makes my day a bit brighter <3 Thank you so so much!!! I’m very lucky to have people who comment here and I really appreciate it A LOT. Really. Thank you.  
Of course also thank you to my silent readers. I don’t know wh you are or how many of you are there, but thank you for reading <3
> 
> I’ll probably update again next Saturday. No guarantees like always though! I’m still a bit proud I managed to update this chapter in time even though it had been Christmas. It’s slightly shorter than the chapters before, but I think even more of this content would have been too difficult to digest lol
> 
> I wish you all a Happy New Year! See you soon <333
> 
> If you’re interested in my writing process, you can add me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel). And if you have questions or things you can’t write here, you can write me on [curious cat ](https://curiouscat.me/just_a_pinwheel).


	25. The Rage of an Alpha

Soonyoung was in panic. With Jihoon being gone, probably walking right into the killer’s arms, he needed to keep his cool more than ever, but his alpha biology was clouding up his mind in the worst possible situation. He had screamed at his team for not taking care of Jihoon, for not looking where he went, but actually it was his responsibility to keep the younger officer safe. It was his responsibility as his team leader and it was his responsibility as chosen alpha of Jihoon. Even though he had rejected the other, his biology obviously hadn’t acknowledged that fact. His alpha mind was going crazy with worry and he had to push with all his might against his own nature to take even one clear thought. The alpha in him wanted to just run outside mindlessly and rescue Jihoon, but Soonyoung was a police officer and knew it better. He had to plan the rescue carefully and get his alpha rage under control.

Soonyoung looked at his team and the three police officers were still stunned silent. The alpha wasn’t sure if it was a result of Jihoon gone missing or if his outbreak was to be blamed - most probably it was both. The first one to speak up after the awkward silence was surprisingly Vernon and not Wonwoo, or maybe it wasn’t even that surprising because Vernon was a quick thinker and could get his emotions very fast under control. 

“What do we do now? We can’t track hyung’s phone because he left it here. Do you think he took the police car? We can track that.” Soonyoung was clenching his hands into fists hitting them lightly against his pants. It was still difficult to concentrate for him, but the more he would talk, the easier it would get. He needed to control himself for Jihoon’s sake. Soonyoung pushed another wave of worry away and shook his head at Vernon’s question. 

“No, Min Jaeho has most probably planned out everything in detail, maybe already while waiting in the cell. He wouldn’t make such a mistake. He must have told Jihoon to take his own car.”

“Didn’t you come here with Jihoon this morning? He shouldn’t even have his car!” Wonwoo’s voice was deep and angry, but Soonyoung knew that he was in reality just worried. He could understand the other all too well, so he didn’t take his rough tone to heart. 

“We always went back and forth with one of our cars, since we came from the meeting with Min Jaeho’s employee. That’s why both cars are always at the police station when we are here, but only one is in the underground parking when back at home. But that’s not very important right now. I have a way to track Jihoon and we have to move carefully. Min Jaeho might be watching us.” Wonwoo came storming forward and grabbed Soonyoung by the collar. He was obviously in rage right now and not only worried like before. The alpha was very sure he had never seen the other that angry, not even the day he got them out of the barn. 

“Why didn’t you say that earlier? And how can you even track him? There is no way!”

Soonyoung pushed the beta aside trying to not get annoyed with the other. “Jihoon had the chance to tell us that Min Jaeho called, but didn’t do so. Why do you think he did that?” Wonwoo kept silent for a moment, his brain probably trying to analyse the situation fast. 

“The killer must have said that he would watch him and check if he told us anything.” Soonyoung sighed loudly and sat down on a table. “Exactly. We can’t move carelessly.” The alpha took his phone outside and opened an app. His team members assembled around him staring curiously at the screen. There was a red dot blinking on a map.

“That’s where Jihoon is. I put a tracker onto the underside of his car. I knew there was the possibility he would do something stupid like this.” Soonyoung had felt bad while installing the tracker after the omega had received the letter of the killer, but he hadn’t been able to calm down his alpha mind otherwise. Now he was glad he had installed the tracker because it was the only way to find Jihoon. 

“That looks like a 10 minutes drive and the car is not moving. Jihoon is gone for approximately 15 minutes, so he might have reached the hideout of Min Jaeho already,” Seokmin concluded and Wonwoo and Vernon nodded their heads, only Soonyoung looked sceptical. 

“I don’t think so. Min Jaeho will make it more difficult than that. He wants to make sure no one can find Jihoon. He probably sent him on a walk for at least a couple of minutes. As long as the killer is still checking the surveillance cameras, it will be dangerous to leave the police station. We should go in 5 minutes, I think.” Wonwoo looked at the alpha in anger.

“Are you crazy? Jihoon will have reached him by then! How should we even rescue him?” Soonyoung tried to keep calm at Wonwoo’s words. He didn’t like waiting too. In fact, it almost drove him insane, but the possibility that Min Jaeho would kill Jihoon immediately when he saw the police officers leaving was just too high. 

“We need to trust Jihoon that he’s stalling time for us. Even if he believes that we won’t be able to find him, he’ll still stall time. It’s the best thing to do in such a situation and he knows that.”

No one had a response to Soonyoung’s words, but Wonwoo was still looking grim. Soonyoung knew that he had to calm the other down somehow. It wasn’t the time for tensions in the team. They all had to work in harmony together to catch the killer and find Jihoon alive. “Come on, we’ll go to my car already. It’s probably safe to leave after we’ve reached it. As soon as we arrive at Jihoon’s car, we have to split up and search separately for Jihoon. Try to avoid surveillance cameras at all costs. Even though the killer will be preoccupied with Jihoon soon, we can never be too careful. Let’s go and save Jihoon.”

The four police officers started running and halfway to the car Seokmin screamed at Soonyoung from some meters behind him. “What about backup?” The alpha only answered him when they arrived at his car because he couldn’t come up with an answer on the spot. 

“This is a sensitive situation. We have to be cautious. Let’s call backup after we arrived there.”

Everyone got fast into the car and Soonyoung started hastily the engine. “How do you think the murderer pressured hyung into going there?” Soonyoung’s eyes narrowed slightly at Vernon’s question. There was only one thing that would make Jihoon act so recklessly.

“He’s threatening to kill someone.“

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung drove like a mad person to where Jihoon’s car was parked. He made it in just six minutes there. Everyone stumbled out of the car in a hurry and looked down the dimly lit street. “I checked on the way the surroundings and there are four apartment complexes just two blocks from here. Min Jaeho would probably feel very safe hiding in a flat there. Finding him in one of the small houses here would be too easy in his mind. He wouldn’t chose a victim who lives in such a location.” Soonyoung was glad Wonwoo had been thinking so far ahead because he was completely right. 

“Let’s go there at once! We have to find out which building is the right one! Seokmin, call for backup now!” Soonyoung dashed off and panic was starting to rise up once more in him. This was the difficult part. He had no clue how to find Jihoon now. Min Jaeho could be hiding anywhere.

The four of them stopped when the apartment complexes came into sight. “Everyone should check one. Vernon you take the one on the far away opposite side and Seokmin the one beside that one. Wonwoo you check this one here and I check the one beside yours. Whoever finds something suspicious writes the number of the flat into our chat group first and the others go to that location at once, understood? Only look inside after the others know where you are. And now go!!” Soonyoung watched his three team members run swiftly through the darkness. They were not acting carelessly, but were looking out for surveillance cameras just like he had told them to. After the alpha saw that, he also started running.

He arrived in front of a run down apartment complex and checked the surroundings. There was an old name plate in front of the entrance with ‘Skyhigh Apartment’ written on it. The very new looking surveillance camera right beside it was a stark contrast to the nameplate and generally run down building. He immediately got the feeling he might be right here. The problem was that he had no way to figure out which flat was the one where Min Jaeho was hiding in.

He walked carefully around the building to avoid getting caught by the surveillance camera and started checking the doors on the first floor. They looked all exactly the same. On top of that, there were no people outside he could ask if they saw something suspicious. He would never figure out where Jihoon was just walking around aimlessly and he couldn’t knock at every door and alarm the killer that way. It was much too dangerous. He needed to figure out which flat was the right one.

Soonyoung closed his eyes and tried to think, but his mind was flooded with memories of Jihoon. He had been running away the whole time from the omega, even refusing to talk to him lately because he couldn’t handle Jihoon’s feelings. Now he wished he would have acted differently. He should have talked to him more and he should have not been such a coward who only saw his own fears. 

Jihoon had been amazingly brave, while he had been an idiot and the regret was eating him up alive. Just yesterday Jihoon had reached out to him once more, telling him that he wouldn’t give up on him and this morning he said he would wait for him no matter how long it takes. Soonyoung couldn’t remember that anyone had ever told him something similarly touching in all his life. Jihoon had decided to give him all the time he needed, but still held onto his feelings in the meantime. Jihoon’s heart was beautiful and pure compared to Soonyoung’s broken one, but it was now time to pick up the pieces and start living again.

Soonyoung could see clearly that running away had been the worst decision of his life, now that he might not see Jihoon alive again. No one can expect to have all the time in the world to figure things out slowly. Sometimes one had to take action at once and that’s exactly what he would do when he found Jihoon. He had to reach Jihoon in time and make up for his mistakes. He wouldn’t survive it otherwise. He needed Jihoon in his life, he simply needed him. 

Soonyoung’s breathing became laboured and tears were pricking at his eyes, but this wasn’t the time for a panic attack. He needed to figure out where to find Jihoon so he pushed the panic strongly aside. He was a profiler and he should know how the killer is thinking. Where would he hide and whom was he pressuring Jihoon with? The surveillance camera looked new which pointed to the fact that Min Jaeho had installed it himself. If he did that, he had planned on coming here already a while ago.

Like a thunderbolt going through the sky, Soonyoung suddenly knew where he was and whom Min Jaeho took as hostage. He got his phone with shaking fingers out of the pocket of his pants and dialed the number of the organisation who helps omegas. Luckily only after two rings the call was picked up. 

“Tell me right now the building names and flat numbers of the two omegas who didn’t want protection from the police!” There wasn’t an answer for a moment and Soonyoung got really angry with the lack of response. “NOW! I need to catch the killer before he kills my colleague! TELL ME THEM NOW!” The alpha heard a hurried yes and some shuffling from the other side. 

“One is living in the Skyhigh Apartment room 312, the other in the…” Soonyoung immediately cut the line and wrote the numbers 312 into the group chat. He found Jihoon - hopefully not too late.

Soonyoung ran back to the stairs he saw when he walked first down the corridor to check out the flats. The stairs were rusty and old and he was afraid he would make too much noise when sprinting up. He couldn’t dare risk that the killer would get an early warning, but at the same time he needed to hurry. Every second going by was a second where Min Jaeho could murder Jihoon. It was a tricky decision, but in the end his alpha biology won over his rational mind and he ran up the stairs as fast as possible. He needed to rescue Jihoon. That was the only important thing for his mind and heart in the moment. He needed him to be still alive.

Soonyoung ran down the dimly lit corridor until he arrived in front of flat 312. He saw a paper with an address written on it lying under the doormat - it was Jihoon’s handwriting. He took his gun out, opened the door as quietly as possible and swiftly moved into the flat. A mix of many different smells hit him, but the one he recognized immediately was the scent of peonies and raspberry. Soonyoung froze up in terror when he noticed that it wasn’t the sweet scent it should be, but a strong burnt and unpleasant smell. Jihoon was scared to death and on top of that Soonyoung smelt blood in the air. The mixture made him lose any reasoning and he hurried into the living room where he saw Min Jaeho sitting on the naked body of Jihoon, slowly cutting his throat open.

Soonyoung’s mind turned off completely at the sight. The only feeling left was rage when he rushed forward to pull Min Jaeho away from Jihoon. 

“Don’t touch my omega!!” Soonyoung said in an ice cold voice and hit Min Jaeho right into the face with his gun. The killer stumbled and dragged Soonyoung along to the floor, the profiler lost his gun in the process. The two alphas rolled around fighting for the better position and neither of them wanted to give up. Min Jaeho tried to attack Soonyoung with the knife in his hand, but the profiler hit it out of the other’s hand with trained ease. The knife went flying and in the split second Min Jaeho was distracted, Soonyoung rolled the killer onto his back and closed his hands around the other’s throat. He pressed down as hard as possible and gurgling noises were leaving Min Jaeho’s mouth while his eyes were wide open in panic. But Soonyoung had no sympathy. The need to kill the other was clouding up his mind entirely.

The murderer’s eyes fell close and the alpha was still strangling him without ever stopping. A low growl was escaping his throat and he just wanted to press down even harder when the sweet scent of peonies and raspberries started to fill up his senses. The scent was so gentle and calm that he felt some of the tension leave his body immediately. 

“You don’t have to kill him. I’m okay, Soon.” Soonyoung turned his head around and saw Jihoon sitting beside him. He had a soft smile on his lips, but there was blood gushing from a wound on his throat and the anger started bubbling up in Soonyoung again. 

“He hurt you,” the alpha gritted out furiously and Jihoon moved even closer to him. The injured omega laid a hand on one of Soonyoung’s hands that was still pressing against Min Jaeho’s throat.

“I’m okay. You rescued me and you don’t have to kill him. He’s knocked out cold already. Come on, don’t do it. You aren’t like him.” Jihoon’s calming scent and his gentle words finally broke Soonyoung’s resolve to kill and he let Min Jaeho go.

Wonwoo came just at that moment storming into the flat screaming Jihoon’s name loudly. The beta fell onto his knees beside Jihoon when he saw his friend being alive and hugged the omega tightly. Soonyoung’s mind was still a mess and he didn’t like it that someone else was hugging Jihoon. Still, he pushed himself up from the floor and staggered some steps away until he was leaning against a cupboard. He heard more people coming into the flat, talking to Jihoon, asking him questions, but he could barely concentrate on it.

Soonyoung still felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins. The anger was lingering like poison in his body and he wasn’t able to find an antidote for it. His hands were shaking so much and there was nothing he could do about it. He was breathing harshly in and out while trying to control all the hate and rage that was clouding his mind. The need to kill the man lying unconscious on the floor just didn’t want to go away.

Soonyoung didn’t know how much time had passed when Jihoon, who was fully clothed again, walked over to him while giving him a worried look. When he saw how much Soonyoung’s hands were shaking, he took one of the alphas' hands and intertwined their fingers. His thumb was drawing soothing circles on his skin while he tightly held onto him. Soonyoung looked at Jihoon’s smaller, delicate hand in his and to him, they looked perfect together. He never wanted to let go again. Without even noticing it himself, Soonyoung’s hands slowly stopped shaking and his breathing became calmer again. 

“You need to go to the hospital,” Soonyoung said finally and he was slightly shocked how cold his voice was. He still wasn’t back to normal.

Jihoon didn’t seem bothered by Soonyoung’s rather rude tone. “It’s not that bad. The cut is mostly superficial. You can treat it at home, right?” Soonyoung noticed how Jihoon’s scent was getting sweeter. He tried to charm him into doing what he wanted. It was a rather strange behavior in that situation, but Soonyoung didn’t question it further. Jihoon almost died after all. 

“Please, I want to go home.” Soonyoung wanted to argue with Jihoon because in his opinion the other needed to go to the hospital, but at the same time he wanted to give the omega what he wanted. In the end his heart won over his mind.

Soonyoung took some deep breaths and hoped he would finally be able to calm down when he left the presence of Min Jaeho. “I‘ll bring Jihoon home,” he said to no one in particular, gripped Jihoon’s hand even tighter and led him out of the room.

“Are you okay?” Jihoon asked Soonyoung while walking down the stairs. 

“I should be the one asking that question,” the alpha murmured unhappily. He looked at the stairs under his feet, while his actions from earlier finally started weighing him down. He had almost killed a person. If Jihoon wouldn’t have stopped him, he would have strangled Min Jaeho until he was dead. He wouldn’t have been punished for it by law because in similar situations other alphas had reacted similarly and didn’t go to jail for it, but Soonyoung wouldn’t have been able to live with himself. As a police officer it was unavoidable to kill criminals when the situation was calling for it, but Min Jaeho had been knocked out cold and there had been no need to kill him. Soonyoung wouldn’t have mentally survived such a kill.

Jihoon seemed to notice Soonyoung’s mood shifting and immediately changed to a safer topic. “How did you find me?” Soonyoung looked slightly sour hearing the question. 

“I installed a tracker on your car.“ To his surprise, Jihoon wasn’t angry, but just chuckled loudly. The alpha finally looked up and saw a bright smile on Jihoon’s face. 

“Good that you know me so well. One minute later and I would have been dead.” Soonyoung stopped his step at the end of the staircase and looked at Jihoon. Just hearing the other say that he could be dead now, made him slightly anxious again. Jihoon seemed to wait for him to say something, but he didn’t know what he should tell Jihoon first. There was so much he wanted and needed to explain, but talking about feelings was difficult for him.

When the alpha neither answered nor moved after over one minute of waiting, Jihoon simply started pulling him along. “I was scared. I thought I would die without seeing you again,” the omega told him quietly when they stopped close by the alphas' car. The street was dimly lit by old street lights painting the surrounding with a yellowish sheen. Jihoon looked strangely fragil to Soonyoung in that moment and everything that happened before, came back crashing down on the alpha. The fear, the anger, the feelings. Everything was a swirl of emotions he could get easily lost in. But this time he wasn’t in panic anymore because Jihoon was alive and he was here with him looking at him like he’s the most important person to him on earth.

Soonyoung stepped close to Jihoon and gently touched his throat close to the cut there. Jihoon flinched slightly, but his eyes stayed focused on the alpha. Soonyoung let his hand glide up and he cupped the smaller one‘s face softly. “I was so worried about you. Don‘t do that again. Never run off alone anymore or I might get a heart attack.” Soonyoung leaned in closer, hugging Jihoon tightly. The omegas pheromones flared up instantly and it almost knocked Soonyoung out. The smell was nearly as potent as the time Jihoon was in heat. He leaned out of the embrace again shaking slightly and could barely hold himself back from kissing the omega. His head was spinning and desire was flowing through his whole body because of Jihoon’s overwhelming scent. 

“Stop smelling like that,” Soonyoung gritted out, but Jihoon only huffed slightly. 

“I can’t help it. Just remembering how you called me your omega ready to kill that man leaves me all hot and bothered.” Soonyoung let go of Jihoon and took one step back. 

“Do you know how difficult you make it for me with saying stuff like that?” Jihoon’s eyes narrowed slightly at the question and his pheromones pulled back again. 

“No, I don’t. You were never really affected by anything I said or did. You only pushed me away and told me you didn’t want me!”

Soonyoung could hear in his voice how hurt the other was. If he wanted to stop being a coward and change things between them, then it was now the time to do so. “That was a mistake,” Soonyoung told the omega in a loud voice and Jihoon looked taken-aback. 

“Really?” Soonyoung nodded and closed the gap between them again 

“Yes, a very big one.” The alphas voice was sincere and clear. He didn’t want to make another mistake, but show Jihoon that he was sorry.

“Do you think that saying it was a mistake is enough?” Soonyoung knew it wasn’t all that easy. He had hurt Jihoon over and over again. It would probably need time until Jihoon could fully trust him. But Jihoon had said that he wouldn’t give him up and that he would wait for him, so Soonyoung wanted to believe these words. He wanted to believe that they could be good together when he made place for Jihoon in his heart again.

Soonyoung opened his mouth to answer Jihoon’s question, but the younger one immediately put a hand over the alphas lips, effectively shutting him up. “No, don’t say anything. I was an idiot for years at university and you forgave me. So I‘ll forgive you this time.” Soonyoung couldn’t believe what he just heard. He stared dumbfounded at Jihoon not knowing what to say.

Jihoon slowly put down his hand again and gave the alpha a coy smile. “Also I just like you too much. I would be a coward to refuse you.” Soonyoung touched Jihoon’s cheek again while smiling gently at him. The omega was unbelievable and positively the best thing that ever happened to him. 

“I‘ll kiss you now Jihoonie.” The alpha could smell the excitement and nervousness on Jihoon and it all just made it better because he was feeling the exact same emotions. He didn’t want to run away anymore, but wanted to be together with the omega. Maybe he had never wanted anything more in his whole life. He had been a coward that he needed to almost lose the other to finally have the courage to admit it. He was undeniably in love. So much that his heart felt like bursting. He had been wrong to think this was just a simple biological attraction because it was so much more. It felt exactly like back at university - the only time in his life when he had been really in love.

Soonyoung gently grabbed Jihoon’s face with one hand and the other went to the side of his throat that wasn’t injured. He couldn’t risk hurting the other even more, so he needed to steady him like this. He leaned forward until their lips brushed. It was nothing more than a simple slide of lips, warm and gentle, but Soonyoung’s whole body was tingling and his mind felt finally completely at peace again. He leaned back a bit to just dive forward once more to peck Jihoon’s lips and then the corner of his mouth. 

Soonyoung’s feelings were overflowing and the need to show the other how much he cared was bigger than ever. He wanted to shower him in kisses and he didn’t fight the urge, but leaned over to kiss Jihoon’s cheek, then his nose and finally his forehead. The alpha pulled back feeling more content than ever and looked at Jihoon who had his eyes closed breathing slightly heavier than normal. His pheromones were flickering excitedly, but Soonyoung could also sense an underlying sadness.

Jihoon opened his eyes again and Soonyoung could clearly see insecurity reflecting in the brown orbs. “Will you think of this as another mistake later?” He asked him quietly and it almost broke Soonyoung’s heart. 

“You were never a mistake. I was just scared and stupid. I was too hurt from your rejection at university and I thought you couldn’t really like me for who I am. I thought it was just your omega biology who likes me.” Soonyoung touched Jihoon’s cheek again and caressed with his fingertips. The omega immediately leaned into the touch sighing quietly. 

“What changed your mind?”

It was a good question because he was still afraid to lose Jihoon once more, afraid that his heart might be left behind in tiny shreds one day, so it would be irretrievably broken. But there was one thing that scared him even more, the thought of regretting it one day to not have reached out his hand for Jihoon. He wanted to be more positive again and not see just the bad things that could happen. Jihoon and him might as well be perfect together. He wanted to see with his own eyes how far they could go with their relationship. He hoped for eternity. 

“Earlier when I was searching for you, I thought I might lose you and that thought was the scariest I ever had. I don’t want to waste my time running away anymore. My heart might be malfunctioning and broken, but as long as I have a heart I should try using it. Maybe it can heal again. Maybe…”

Soonyoung suddenly stopped talking when he saw a tear running over Jihoon’s cheek. “Jihoonie? What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Does the cut hurt or something else or…” Jihoon took a step forward and hugged Soonyoung tightly. 

“It’s all my mistake. I broke your heart.” Soonyoung swallowed thickly. It hadn’t been his intention to make Jihoon feel guilty. That was the last thing he wanted. 

“No, it was more than this. My whole life broke my heart, but it can heal again. What happened at university had been long ago. Don’t worry about it. I’m not angry with you. I never was angry with you and you shouldn’t be angry with yourself too, okay?” Jihoon nodded into his shoulder and took half a step back. 

“Okay.” Soonyoung wiped Jihoon’s tears away gently and the alpha could see a slight red sheen on the other’s cheeks. 

“Kiss me again?” Jihoon asked quietly and Soonyoung was happy to obey.

Just as carefully as before he took Jihoon’s face in his hands and gave him a gentle kiss, but this time the omega had different plans than him. He opened his mouth and slid his tongue along the alphas lips showing him that he wanted more than just a short kiss. Soonyoung chuckled at the omegas eagerness and opened his mouth to kiss him deeply. Soonyoung caressed the smaller one’s tongue with his own gently and thoroughly, but Jihoon soon got fed up with the slow tempo. He moved his tongue more desperately in the alphas mouth and started running his hands up and down Soonyoung’s body.

Soonyoung didn’t want to deny Jihoon what he wanted and kissed back with the same passion, but all the while he was still holding his face carefully with both hands, so the younger wouldn’t get hurt. Jihoon obviously didn’t like that and tried to loosen Soonyoung’s hold on his face, so he would touch him somewhere else, but Soonyoung was stubborn in his worry for Jihoon’s wellbeing and didn’t let his face go. The omega made an unhappy noise while still kissing Soonyoung and went back to touching the alphas body instead. His hands went lower and lower until he touched the taller one’s crotch rubbing lightly over it.

Soonyoung let out a quiet moan and immediately stopped kissing Jihoon. Rar desire was hazing up his brain, but this was neither the place nor time for something like that. He took the omegas hand that had been touching him into a tight grip while giving him a scolding look. “We’re in public, Jihoonie.” The small police officer looked irritatedly and then shrugged Soonyoung’s hand off. 

“Why are we even still standing here?” The alpha laughed loudly and took Jihoon’s hand again, but this time gently intertwined their fingers. It was finally time to leave everything behind.

“Let’s go home, Jihoonie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) FINALLY I’m ending a chapter without a cliffhanger and on a very nice note. Ahh I’m happy this is done at last. I’m not sure if some of you will think that Min Jaeho was caught too fast, but seriously what should I have done in that situation? Making him torture Jihoon? Or getting Jihoon almost killed and then they have to go to the hospital where he is almost dying, Soonyoung has a mental breakdown because he thinks that Jihoon is dead, but then suddenly his heart starts beating again yadda yadda yadda. That’s too cliche for me haha. I mean, I LOVE cliche don’t get me wrong, but I don’t really need this in my story. For me it only made sense the way I wrote it. But then again, the story is far from being over. Just Min Jaeho is caught at last. I mean, it also took them long enough. 100.000 words to be exact haha
> 
> Not only Min Jaeho is caught at last, but Soonyoung also gave up being a stubborn idiot. It either needed an impactful event like this for him to wake up or a looooong time to think. I chose the impactful event because… omg, didn’t we wait long enough already? Yes, this story has a slow burn tag, but 100.000 words are an AWFULLY long time. Everyone including me was probably angry at Soonyoung through many chapters already and I finally want to go back liking Soonyoung because his character is actually very likable. And truthfully said, I’m a very impatient person, so it’s a miracle I could drag out the slow burn for that long.
> 
> So what will happen from now on in the story? It’s a bit of a mystery right? :D It will be for sure a lot less crime heavy for the time being. In the end, this is more a story about characters and relationships and character development. I’m not a masterwriter of crime haha. It’s all fun, but the characters are the most important part <3 So let’s go in the second part of the story and see what happens!! The only thing I can say at this point is… my tags are there for a reason haha. Bye.
> 
> I hope you liked the chapter. I wish I could have written it a bit more lyrical and emotional but I just can’t write like that lol. So I hope this chapter is not too much of a let down D:
> 
> Like always, thank you so much for all the nice comments!! I got many comments and every single one made me really happy. Thanks a lot <3 Also for all the kudos, bookmarks and of course for simply reading. I’m really glad my work is not in vain and some people enjoy the story <3
> 
> I wish you all a happy 2020! Love you and see you soon <3 
> 
> If you’re interested in my writing process, you can add me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel). And if you have questions or things you can’t write here, you can write me on [curious cat ](https://curiouscat.me/just_a_pinwheel).


	26. Kiss me Goodnight

Soonyoung and Jihoon sat in the alpha’s car driving the short distance home. It couldn’t have been more than two or three minutes since Soonyoung had driven off, but he already wanted to stop the engine and leave the car. Jihoon’s pheromones were so strong that he almost couldn’t concentrate on driving and had almost missed a red light. The problem was that there was another sweetness in the air he didn’t recognize added to Jihoon’s already irresistible scent and it made him crazy. It was another kind of raspberry scent, not the scent of fresh raspberries he normally smelt on Jihoon, but sweeter than this, bit like raspberry candy.

To top it off, Jihoon was constantly shifting around in his seat and it made the alpha even more nervous. “Seriously Jihoonie calm down. I can’t drive if you give off pheromones in such strong waves. Also stop wriggling on the seat like that.”

“Sorry, I‘m so wet that it’s starting to seep through my underwear. It’s uncomfortable.” Soonyoung groaned loudly and stopped the car. It was suddenly much too hot in the car and every clear thought seemed to melt away. That was too much information for him. He knew now what that new sweet scent was and he couldn’t handle it paired together with Jihoon’s strong pheromones. 

“Don’t tell me things like that! Didn’t you learn how to control your feelings and pheromones?”

Jihoon looked slightly confused at the alphas sudden outburst. “Yes, but I was never in such a situation. You didn’t want me before! Now I can only think about how much I want you to kiss me again and touch me all over. I need you so much that it’s almost driving me insane.” Soonyoung tried to push all the pictures Jihoon just put into his head away, but it was impossible. 

“Jihoonie, please don’t say things like that right now. It’s making everything quite difficult for me.”

Jihoon chuckled darkly at the alphas words. “Do you think this is funny to me? I never had to deal with... fuck. I never had to deal with self-lubrication, okay? And I thought that getting a hard on if you didn’t want it was bad, but this is a whole different level!! I’m soaking wet so I’ll be ready to get…” 

“STOP IT!” Soonyoung interrupted Jihoon, before the other could say something that would make him lose control completely. “I get it!! It’s difficult for you too. Then let’s both calm down now and drive home. We are almost there. I really need to treat your wound fast.” Soonyoung opened the window and finally felt like he could breathe again. He didn’t know how their relationship would play out when it was already turning into this.

Soonyoung leaned close to the window the remaining drive home and left in a hurry his car after they had arrived. He was close to running away from Jihoon when he remembered that he needed to treat the younger one’s wound and immediately stopped to wait for the omega. Jihoon caught up after a few seconds and took the alphas hand in his as soon as he reached him. Soonyoung stared in wonder at their intertwined fingers. He still was in awe that this would be normal for them now. His nervousness slowly melted away seeing Jihoon smiling at him. 

“Come on, let’s go home, Soon.” 

Jihoon tugged at Soonyoung’s hand and they quietly walked to the elevator and went to the second floor. Jihoon walked at once in the direction of Soonyoung’s flat which made the alpha smile a little. He remembered how Jihoon had been completely out of his mind when he first moved in here because he couldn’t stand the fact that he had to live in the same building as the alpha. “Do you remember how you told me that I couldn’t move in because I would terrorize you in your own home?” Jihoon let go of Soonyoung’s hand and turned around to him. 

“Did I say something like that? I don’t really remember it well…” Soonyoung could see a smile tugging at Jihoon’s lips. He knew exactly what the profiler was talking about. 

“Hmm, I think you conveniently forgot about it because it’s embarrassing looking back at how you behaved.” Jihoon made an annoyed noise and winked him off. 

“I’m not embarrassed at all!” Soonyoung couldn’t help laughing at the omegas denial and went to his door to open it. He let first Jihoon inside before going into the flat himself. He put his jacket to the side, slipped his shoes off and just wanted to go to the bathroom to get the first aid kit when Jihoon suddenly grabbed his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

Soonyoung was caught completely off guard and didn’t react at all until Jihoon pulled back again. “Maybe I can show you how much I like it that you are living here?” Jihoon said in a teasing voice and the omegas scent was pulling at the alpha. The pheromones, the coy smile and Jihoon’s beautiful face was all too alluring to Soonyoung in that moment and his mind shut down. He took Jihoon by the hips and pressed him against the wall. He leaned down to kiss the omega deeply and this time it was nothing but pure lust and desire. Soonyoung slid his tongue in the smaller one’s mouth exploring the hot cavern feverishly. Jihoon tried to fight him for dominance and only gave up when the alpha started sucking at his tongue. A whimper left Jihoon’s lips and Soonyoung wanted to hear more of it. He wanted to make Jihoon feel even better.

He left Jihoon’s lips and started kissing along the omegas cheek until he reached the other’s ear and bit down gently on it. Jihoon let out a surprised moan and the omegas hands trembled slightly while holding onto Soonyoung’s shirt. It fueled Soonyoung’s desire an overwhelming amount. “Are your ears sensitive?” He whispered lowly and Jihoon was squirming in his hold hearing the words. 

“Yes,” Jihoon sighed out quietly and another wave of arousal crushed down on Soonyoung. 

“I’m curious where else you are sensitive.” Jihoon let his head fall against the wall with a thump and closed his eyes. He was obviously waiting for Soonyoung to make the next move, but the alpha stopped all his movements suddenly. He had fallen out of the spell of heavy pheromones and lust because his eyes noticed the ugly cut on Jihoon’s throat again. They really shouldn’t be doing this right now. 

He let Jihoon go and leaned back, but Jihoon immediately followed along and held him close. “Don’t stop, Soon.” Soonyoung swallowed hard. Saying no to that was so hard. 

“Your cut, Jihoonie. We have to take care of the cut.” Soonyoung thought that Jihoon would be more reasonable hearing about his injury, but the answer he got was anything but reasonable.

“Sleep with me.” Soonyoung was stunned silent. Everything was moving way too fast. This wasn’t right. He didn’t even know how to answer Jihoon and kept quiet. The omega took that as an invitation and started opening the profiler’s shirt, but Soonyoung grabbed the omegas hands at once stopping his pretty fingers. 

“Jihoonie, that‘s too fast. Also your cut…” Soonyoung couldn’t finish the sentence because Jihoon had pulled his hands out of Soonyoung’s grip and took the alphas hand and put it onto his body. He moved his hips forward rubbing against Soonyoung’s leg while moaning lowley. The omegas pheromones were so strong that Soonyoung had to concentrate very hard to not get lost in the sweet scent. Jihoon looked extremely hot in that moment. Eyes glassy and cheeks flushed, his lips swollen and a slightly darker shade of pink from their aggressive kissing.

Even though the alpha was unbelievably aroused by the sight and actions of Jihoon, he freed himself out of the other’s grip and took two steps back. The omega looked frustrated at him while leaning back against the wall. “Why is it too fast? Did you never just have sex with someone?” Soonyoung was irritated by the smaller one‘s behavior. Jihoon should behave more reasonably, something was off. 

“Of course I did. But I never wanted to be in a relationship with any of these people.” 

Jihoon looked taken aback at Soonyoung’s words. “Oh…”

The alpha sighed loudly and took Jihoon’s hand to lead him over to the couch, but the other didn’t move along and just stood rooted to the spot. “Still, I want you.” Now Soonyoung started to get worried. Something was definitely not right with Jihoon. His pheromones were still abnormally heavy in the air and Soonyoung was very sure at this point that it shouldn’t be like this. 

Soonyoung strongly pulled at Jihoon’s hand and dragged him to the couch. “Sit down, I‘ll get the first aid kit.” The alpha let go and went as fast as possible to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He took some deep breaths now that he was not smelling the pheromones of Jihoon anymore. He didn’t understand what was going on with the omega. He didn’t seem like the type who would stubbornly persist on having sex at once. Maybe he was out of his mind after everything that happened today. The alpha nodded at his reasoning and finally fetched the first aid kit and went back to the living room.

Jihoon was watching him with an impatient glint in his eyes, but his pheromones had finally calmed down a bit. Soonyoung sat down beside the younger one and put the first aid kit next to him. He took out all the things he needed to treat Jihoon and started cleaning the omegas wound carefully. The injured officer didn’t even flinch when Soonyoung put sanitizer on the cut, but watched the alpha with curious eyes while his pheromones were slowly getting stronger again. The scent got completely overpowering when Soonyoung had finished treating the wound after putting a big plaster on it.

Soonyoung tried to calm down his wildly beating heart and turned back to the first aid kit trying to escape the heated gaze of Jihoon, but the omega didn’t make it easy for him. He suddenly moved from his position beside him onto his lap and laid one hand on the alphas face. He leaned forwards and kissed him softly and leaned then back again to give him a coy smile. Without a warning, Jihoon suddenly started grinding down on him. The pleasure went like a shock through Soonyoung and his eyes fell shut for a second. The omega took advantage of that and leaned even closer hugging the older tightly while moaning loudly into his ear. Soonyoung couldn’t take it. The temptation to just let go and satisfy his needs was overwhelming. He felt his dick twitching in his pants and he would be hard in no time if Jihoon kept on rubbing against him. Even though Soonyoung couldn’t get enough of feeling Jihoon like this, he knew it wasn’t right. Jihoon was more than a quick fuck to him.

Soonyoung pushed Jihoon off his lap and with his back onto the couch. He pinned the omega down so he couldn’t move anymore and hovered over Jihoon while watching him seriously. Jihoon tried to free himself out of Soonyoung’s grip, but the alpha just held him down stronger.

“Jihoonie, your pheromones are completely out of control. Something must not be okay with your hormones. I think we should go to the doctor tomorrow.” Jihoon stopped struggling finally and looked angrily at Soonyoung. 

“I need you so much and you tell me to go to a doctor because of it?” Soonyoung pressed his mind into a calm state. He needed to get himself completely under control to help Jihoon calm down. 

“I didn’t mean it like this. I’m just worried. You are almost behaving like you are in heat.” Jihoon struggled harder hearing the words. 

“If you don’t want me then just say it! I’m already used to it.”

After just having calmed down, Soonyoung got frustrated again because Jihoon couldn’t or didn’t want to understand him right. He simply wanted to show the other how much he cared and not make him angry again. “We aren’t even officially dating yet, Jihoon! I won’t have sex with you now. I want to take it slow so things can evolve the right way between us.” The omega looked defeated at him. His eyes were glistening slightly and Soonyoung immediately slackend his strong hold on him. 

“But I need... please, Soon…” Soonyoung was at a loss what to do. Jihoon’s pheromones were still strong in the air, a mix of desperation and devastation. Soonyoung didn’t like that scent on the omega. He wanted him to be happy, but he didn’t know what was right to do in this situation. There was only one thing he could think about that might be able to make Jihoon feel better, but he was afraid to even suggest it. The memory of the rejection from years ago was still making him anxious, but it seemed like this was the perfect moment to finally overcome his fear. 

“I could scent you if you like. That might help calm you down a bit. But only if you want it…”

Jihoon’s pheromones flickered excitedly after hearing Soonyoung’s suggestion. "Yes, oh my god yes, yes. Do it." Soonyoung finally let go of Jihoon and placed his hands beside the younger one’s head instead. Jihoon smiled at him and suddenly everything was okay again. It had been the right decision to battle his own fears when he could make Jihoon happy in the end.

“Jihoon just to be sure… do you really want to be scented? Everyone will smell my scent on you. It won’t be gone by tomorrow completely.” Jihoon was still smiling and Soonyoung’s heart felt light seeing the omega like this. 

“They can all know… no, I even want them all to know.” Soonyoung swallowed down a sudden wave of want. Hearing Jihoon say something like this was even more arousing to him than Jihoon grinding on his lap, but Soonyoung pushed all dirty thoughts aside and leaned close over Jihoon. 

“Okay, I’m starting.” 

The alpha first laid his cheek on Jihoon’s and rubbed gently against him. He let his cheek slide lower until he reached the not injured side of Jihoon’s throat and slowly rubbed his cheek against the skin there. Soonyoung heard the omega sighing quietly and couldn’t help smiling at the cute noise. He finally moved his head around, so his neck was pressing against Jihoon’s neck. He smelt how their scents slowly blended and it was much more than simply satisfying to him. Their scents were perfect together and he was sure that paradise must smell like this. Coffee and peonies melted together in a warm and slightly sweet mix while the raspberry and mint laid only in a very thin layer on top of it. 

The perfect merging of their scents made Soonyoung wish for the younger to always smell like that. He couldn’t deny the fact that he also wanted everyone else to smell their mixture of scents and know how perfect they were together. 

“More…” Jihoon sighed out and Soonyoung sat up again at the request. Jihoon made an unhappy noise and reached for the alpha, who gently took his hands in his. He turned Jihoon’s hands around, so the palm of his hands were showing upside. Soonyoung slowly pressed his wrists against Jihoon’s wrists rubbing in circles against the skin. The omega closed his eyes and let his head fall a bit to the side. He looked completely blissed out at the contact and Soonyoung felt exactly the same. As soon as the scent glands in his wrists touched Jihoon’s, his mind fell into absolute peacefulness. 

Soonyoung kept on scenting Jihoon thoroughly for over 20 minutes until he was satisfied with the intensity of his scent on Jihoon. He pushed the smaller one up, only to lie with him down again, the omega this time on top of him. 

“It smells so good.” Soonyoung smiled at Jihoon’s words and began cradling gently through the other’s hair. 

“It does. Are you feeling good now?” Jihoon nodded against his body and Soonyoung let his hands slide lower until he reached the nape of the omega and started playing with the short hair there.

“Can I stay here tonight?” Soonyoung sighed heavily at the question. 

“Why are you making it so difficult for me all the time?” He didn’t want to let Jihoon go right now. Sending him back to his own flat made him feel anxious after what happened today. Still, he couldn’t let Jihoon stay over. They first needed to go to the doctor and figure out what was wrong with Jihoon. He couldn’t risk the omega going out of control while being in bed together. He wouldn’t be able to hold back anymore in such a situation.

“Make an appointment tomorrow morning with your doctor for after work. We’ll go together.” Jihoon hit him lightly on the breast. 

“I don’t want to go to the doctor. I’m fine. I have never felt better. I probably was just stressed earlier.” 

“Jihoonie, look at me. I’m just worried about you. If it’s nothing, then even better. Let’s just go and talk to the doctor after work, okay?” Jihoon who had looked up for a moment, laid his head back onto Soonyoung and didn’t answer. “Seriously Jihoonie if you don’t make an appointment, then I‘ll make one.“ The omega made an unhappy noise, sat up and stared down at Soonyoung. 

“Yes, okay I’ll call there tomorrow morning. Happy?” Soonyoung smiled brightly at the question. 

“Yes, very.” The profiler also pushed himself up and both of them stood up from the couch.

“Can I really not stay here tonight?” Soonyoung just leaned down and pecked Jihoon on the lips and ruffled his hair slightly. 

“Come on, I’ll bring you home.” Jihoon followed the alpha reluctantly out of the flat and only stopped when in front of his own door. 

“Then see you tomorrow?” Soonyoung asked the smaller one in a light voice, but only got a murmur as reply. “What did you say?”

“I said, kiss me goodnight you idiot!” Jihoon suddenly bursted out and Soonyoung laughed loudly before leaning down to kiss the omega again. The smaller one pulled him closer at once and deepened the kiss. It seemed like the omega wouldn’t let him go all that soon, so he moved along and started licking into Jihoon’s mouth. A goodnight kiss was the least he could give Jihoon in this situation. Also he didn’t mind the fact that he could smell his scent for a bit longer on Jihoon.

“LEE JIHOON!!!!” Soonyoung let go of Jihoon in shock and looked into the direction the loud and angry voice was coming from. Jeonghan was walking agitatedly into their direction, closely followed by Seungcheol. “I can’t believe you! We were worried sick! You run off alone to offer yourself to a killer without telling anyone and no one even bothered to inform Cheol and me! We only heard about it by chance and went to that apartment complex at once, but none of you were there anymore! You also didn’t pick up your phone! At one point I reached Wonwoo and he told me that Soonyoung brought you back home after getting injured. We hurried here still being worried sick because you got hurt just to find you making out with Soonyoung??? What the hell, Lee Jihoon!” 

Soonyoung and Jihoon looked at each other and then back at Jeonghan. “Sorry hyung, my phone is still at the police station and I kind of… forgot to contact you.” Jeonghan stared in disbelief at the small police officer. 

“Yes, of course you forgot because you were preoccupied with getting scented by Soonyoung!” Said alpha turned his head to look at Jihoon again and saw a slight red sheen on his face. His heart immediately swelled at the sight because the omega was just too cute in his eyes. He wordlessly shoved Jihoon his phone into the hand that he had taken from the police station with him and Jihoon gave him an annoyed look.

“Well, mostly Soonyoung treated my wound.” Jeonghan walked closer to Jihoon and gave him a scolding look. 

“Don’t you dare lie to me right now! I’m seriously angry! Soonyoung’s scent is so heavy on you that he must have scented you a lot longer than it took to clean your wound!” Jihoon cleared his throat loudly and took a step back from the furious omega. 

“I’m sorry, hyung. Next time I’ll almost die, I contact you at once.” This time Seungcheol rushed forward and took Jeonghan by the arm who looked ready to murder Jihoon.

“It’s good to see you being well, Ji.” Jihoon gave his friend a small smile while Jeonghan meanwhile shrugged his mates hands off and looked now at Soonyoung with narrowed eyes. 

“You both have some explaining to do. Don’t think you’ll easily get out of this situation.” 

“Hyuuuung, don’t be like that. We are tired, let’s talk about it later.” Jeonghan chuckled dryly at Jihoon’s words. 

“I know that ‘let’s talk about it later’ is your secret code word for ‘I’ll never talk with you about that’. So let’s go into your flat now and we can all sit down and talk.” Jihoon turned his head around and gave Soonyoung a pleading look who in return just shrugged. There seemed to be no way out of talking with Seungcheol and Jeonghan now, so it was better to accept their fate fast.

“Whatever. Let’s go inside then.” All of them went into the flat and while Jihoon and Soonyoung sat down on the couch, Jeonghan and Seungcheol got two chairs from the table and put them opposite of them.

Soonyoung looked interestedly around Jihoon’s living room because he had never been there before. Everything was very similar to his own living room. The TV was smaller than his own just like Jihoon had told him and there were a couple of shelves on the wall all filled with CDs. The most interesting thing in the room for Soonyoung was a clock lying on a small side table, batteries carelessly thrown beside it. 

“Why did you take the batteries out of your clock?“ He asked Jihoon curiously and the omega looked like he was at a loss for words. 

“After you told me that the ticking of a clock is very annoying to you, I kept on noticing the ticking of my clock too. At one point I just took them out.”

Soonyoung smiled at the explanation. Jihoon mirrored his behavior which happens quite often in alpha-omega relationships to adapt better to the partner. One suddenly started hating things that weren’t a bother before or it could be the other way around too and one fell in love with a certain thing that was uninteresting before. It’s something that happened completely unintentional, but shows clearly how much the other cares. Soonyoung’s mother once told him that she never had been an avid reader, but his father had been obsessed with books since he was a child. After she met him, she suddenly got the urge to read all the time too. At first she thought she started reading so much because it would be easier to talk to each other, but she soon noticed that she didn’t really have such thoughts. She simply started to enjoy reading, because Soonyoung father loved it. 

Soonyoung just wanted to comment on Jihoon’s behavior when Jeonghan started fake coughing loudly. He had a grim look on his face, but the sparkle in his eyes was betraying him. He tried to look angry, but failed miserably. “So what did we miss besides Jihoon getting almost killed? How did you end up completely covered in Soonyoung’s scent when I was under the impression that you two aren’t even close to dating?” Soonyoung looked at Jihoon who made a gesture that he should answer Jeonghan. 

“This feels a bit like having the talk with the parents…” Soonyoung said lowly while looking still at Jihoon. 

“This is even worse than talking with my parents, believe me Soon.”

Jeonghan loudly cleared his throat to get the couples attention back. “Could you answer my question now?” Soonyoung swallowed hard before slowly starting his explanation. 

“Jihoon almost died today and it made me realize that I was just running away from my feelings and for the scenting… it was either that or having sex.” Jihoon made a shocked noise and hit Soonyoung on the arm. 

“Why would you tell them that?? Are you crazy?” Soonyoung shrugged and gave the other a small smile. 

“It’s the truth though. You were completely out of control wanting to sleep with me under all circumstances. I had to calm you down somehow. I would have liked to scent you only a bit later in our relationship, but you left me no other choice.” Jihoon’s cheeks turned slightly pink and he averted his gaze from Soonyoung.

“Wait a moment, what are you talking about? I don’t understand one word.” Jihoon’s head shot up at Jeonghan’s question again and he gave Soonyoung a pleading look. He understood that the omega didn’t want the other two to know about what happened earlier, but Soonyoung didn’t want to lie in front of Jihoon’s best friends, so he just kept on talking. “I think something is not right with Jihoon’s hormones. He behaved similarly to being in heat. We’ll go to the doctor tomorrow.”

Jeonghan and Seungcheol kept quiet for a moment. “It could be the stress or it could have something to do with the suppressants Jihoon took,” Seungcheol said and Soonyoung sighed quietly. 

“Yeah, I thought the same thing. Jihoon’s behavior must have been triggered by something.”

“Could you please stop talking about me like I’m not here?” Everyone laughed slightly at the annoyed tone in Jihoon’s voice. 

“It’s good that you’ll go to the doctor tomorrow. It’s probably nothing bad. So… you and Soonyoung, huh?” Jihoon hesitated answering Jeonghan for a while, so Soonyoung took the omegas hand in his and answered for him. 

“Yes, Jihoon and I.” Jihoon tried to pull his hand out of the alphas grip, but the older one didn’t let go. 

“You better not hurt him again or I’ll hurt you,” Jeonghan told the alpha seriously. Soonyoung didn’t even blink before answering. 

“I won’t hurt him again.” 

Jihoon had enough of everything at this point and got up from the couch while strongly ripping his hand out of the Soonyoung’s hold. “Everyone out now! Enough with this embarrassing talk. I’m tired.” The other three got up from their seats and made their way over to the door. Jihoon stood close to Soonyoung and suddenly hooked his pinky around the alphas smallest finger. 

“Stay here tonight,” he whispered lowly. 

“We already talked about this. Another time, okay?” Soonyoung threaded with his free hand through Jihoon’s light brown hair making the omega sigh happily. “Should I pick you up for work tomorrow?” Jihoon nodded and quietly snuggled a bit closer to Soonyoung.

“You got yourself a boyfriend just today, but you are already ignoring your friends.” Jihoon let go of Soonyoung’s pinky and turned around to Jeonghan who gave him a mischievous smirk. 

“We haven’t even talked about being boyfriends, so can you kindly shut up?” Seungcheol started laughing loudly and Soonyoung chuckled quietly too. He looked at the annoyed face of Jihoon and thought it was the most endearing thing he had ever seen in his life. The alpha felt a pull at his heart and remembered that he didn’t want to run away from the other anymore. He should stay true to his word.

Soonyoung gently grabbed Jihoon’s shoulders and turned him around. “Do you want to be my boyfriend, Jihoonie?” He asked with a sincere voice and a gentle smile on his lips. Jihoon’s face immediately turned a dark shade of red and pushed Soonyoung away. 

“I hate you all! Out now! Out!” Soonyoung pouted slightly, but still left the flat. Jihoon must have thought that he was joking. He needed to ask him again when it was just the two of them.

Soonyoung said goodbye to Jeonghan and Seungcheol and walked a couple of steps down the corridor when he heard Jihoon’s door opening again. He turned around and saw the head of the omega poking out of the door. 

“YES!!” Jihoon screamed loudly and Soonyoung couldn’t help laughing at the cute sight. 

“Yes what?” He loudly asked back and saw that Jeonghan and Seungcheol had stopped walking too and watched their exchange. 

“Yes to that boyfriend thing!!” Soonyoung heard Seungcheol whistling loudly and Jihoon immediately threw the door shut. 

“Way to go!” Seungcheol shouted through the corridor and Soonyoung winked it off slightly embarrassed.

Back in his flat, Soonyoung laid down on the couch staring at the ceiling. A big smile was plastered on his face and he couldn’t remember when he felt that happy the last time. The phone in his pants was vibrating once and he got it out to take a look at who wrote him. There was a short message from Jihoon on his lockscreen. “Sleep well boyfriend” it said. Soonyoung sat up again and typed in the same message Jihoon wrote, but deleted it again to write a slightly longer one.

“Thank you for being alive my boyfriend. Sweet dreams and see you tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) So you probably get a first feeling for where this story is going right now. We are kind of back to the troubles of the alpha and omega biology plus the problems that come with a relationship. Let’s see where this gets us!
> 
> This chapter is also one of my rare one scene chapters without a break in between. I don’t know if having no real scene change makes a chapter boring or not. I hope it worked somehow for this one.
> 
> Furthermore I’m now at the for me complicated point where I have to write fluff and my interpretation of fluff might be very different from everyone else’s. I know that most people like these oooverly cute and cringe worthy scenes, but I can’t deal with it (of course it’s totally fine if other like super fluffy fluff though! this is all just my personal opinion). I’m a very rational person and I just can’t imagining people being that cringeworthy cute together, so I also can’t write it. I really like cliche stuff and I still squeal when the main actress in a drama loses her shoe and the main actor picks it up for her or stupid stuff like that that would never ever happen in real life. But I can’t deal with overly cute that’s dangerously close to dumb and whiney in a relationship. That’s also why I pretty much can’t read bottom Soonyoung fics, because he’s portrayed mostly as overly cute, whiny and dumb and it gives me depression (not all are like this of course, but too many). So yeah, what you see in this chapter is almost my maximum of fluff I’m capable of writing lol. There will be still lots of cute scenes to come (even some that go beyond my personal maximum of cute...), but please don’t expect tooth rotting fluff from me. I just can’t write it. I even gagged slightly while writing Soonyoung’s final message in this chapter hahaha
> 
> So much about that. I’m really not sure about this chapter. I liked it and then I hated it and I still kinda think it sucks lol. But then I’m also in a phase again where I pretty much hate everything about my writing… If it was somehow enjoyable to read then I’m glad of course!
> 
> Next chapter… let’s wait and see what will happen :D Like always I’ll most probably update again on Saturday! Thank you for all the amazing comments. I can’t even find a superlative at this point anymore because I already thanked you so often… but I’m just really thankful T_T I’m not taking it for granted that I’m so lucky to get many comments. I love you all <3
> 
> See you soon :D
> 
> If you’re interested in my writing process, you can add me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel). And if you have questions or things you can’t write here, you can write me on [curious cat ](https://curiouscat.me/just_a_pinwheel).


	27. I Need Help

Jihoon stood in his bathroom staring at the reflection in the mirror. The big plaster on his throat looked ugly in his eyes and he tried moving his head around to see how much the injury hurt. The pain was tolerable, he really was lucky he didn’t get hurt more than this. It was all thanks to Soonyoung that he stood here only minorly injured. He could have been easily dead right now, but Soonyoung’s intelligence and determination rescued him in the very last second.

Thoughts of Soonyoung storming into the flat, pulling the killer off of him and telling him not to touch his omega immediately invaded his mind. Jihoon groaned loudly and tried to push the thoughts out of his head, but it wasn’t working. ‘Don’t touch my omega’ was resounding over and over in his head and he started getting aroused by it. Soonyoung was right, something was wrong with him. He really liked sex, but he shouldn’t be this needy. He should be able to appreciate Soonyoung’s idea of taking things slow, but instead it annoyed him. Even here in his own bathroom, far away from the alpha, he couldn’t get the thought of sleeping with him out of his head. Smelling Soonyoung’s scent on himself only made things worse. His scent wasn’t as strong as it had been right after the scenting and he wanted the alpha to do it again. The need to smell the other stronger on him was almost overwhelming.

The longer Jihoon thought about Soonyoung, the more he felt desire running through him like fire slowly burning him from the inside. Jihoon considered masturbating to take the edge off, but the thought wasn’t all that appealing to him. He needed Soonyoung to touch him, his own hands wouldn’t be enough. Jihoon sighed loudly and walked out of the bathroom and over to his bedroom to get dressed. He felt the need to dress especially nice for the alpha pulling at him, but he resisted it. He grabbed a thin black turtleneck that would cover up the plaster on his throat and simple black jeans. The other’s would probably laugh at him for wearing a turtleneck because it was 20 degrees outside today, but he didn’t want everyone to stare at his injury the whole time. Especially he didn’t want Soonyoung to worry unnecessarily.

Jihoon sighed loudly after he noticed what he had just thought. Not only was he unnecessarily needy, he was unnecessarily cringeworthy romantic too. He went over to the kitchen and made a coffee because there were still 20 minutes left until he had to leave for work. When the coffee machine beeped loudly, he poured himself a cup and looked at the black liquid like it held all the answers to his troubles. Before getting ready for work, he had already called the hospital and made an appointment for later. Luckily he was allowed to go after work even though there hadn’t been an open slot, but it seemed his case was deemed emergency worthy. Jihoon didn’t even want to imagine how Soonyoung would have nagged him if he didn’t get an appointment.

Jihoon wasn’t particularly afraid of what the doctor would tell him, but he didn’t really look forward to it as well. The last weeks had been already stressful enough as it was and he just wanted to enjoy his time now with Soonyoung, but it seemed like he wasn’t allowed to be simply happy. Everything could be so easy now that Soonyoung liked him back and even asked to be his boyfriend. When he got the alphas message yesterday evening, embarrassingly enough he had almost started to cry. Being together with Soonyoung had been the only thing he had wished for in the last weeks and now everything got ruined by some bullshit going on with his mind and body. 

He didn’t want to say it the night before, but he was very sure that his biology was at fault. Again. His stupid omega biology kept on ruining things for him. If he would still take the suppressants nothing of all these stupid things would have happened. He wouldn’t have confessed to Soonyoung much too early and wouldn’t have almost got his heart shattered while doing so, he wouldn’t have become the target of the killer and he wouldn’t behave like a sex maniac right now. Yes, he also wouldn’t be together with Soonyoung then, but he would have noticed his feelings sooner or later and things would have evolved much more naturally between them. 

The sound of the doorbell suddenly rang loudly through his flat and Jihoon looked at the time on his phone. He was five minutes late. The omega put his still half full cup of coffee onto the counter and rushed over to the door to open it. Soonyoung was standing there smiling brightly at him and Jihoon’s heart started beating faster in his chest. He couldn’t move anymore and just stood there gaping at the other who was still spotting a brilliant smile. The alpha took a step forward and leaned down to give him a small peck on the lips. “You look like you want to rob a bank. You should have told me beforehand, I would have dressed then accordingly.”

Jihoon swallowed strongly, before stuttering out his answer. “I wanted to t-to… I don’t want the other’s to worry about me.” Soonyoung suddenly touched the not injured side of his throat and caressed it gently. 

“Does it hurt a lot, Jihoonie?” The omega screamed on the inside at the question. If Soonyoung would be now always like this, he would probably get a heart attack one day because he enjoyed the alphas behavior too much. It was just a simple question and a small gesture, but he loved the attention so much that he couldn’t calm down his beating heart anymore. It was loudly drumming in his ears and he completely forgot that the other had asked him a question.

“Jihoonie? Are you okay?” The smaller one took a step backwards and almost tripped over the doorstep, but managed to stay upright somehow. 

“Yes, yes, I’m fine. Let’s go.” Jihoon stormed to the elevator and pushed the button repeatedly. He went inside as soon as the doors opened and Soonyoung followed along. 

“Why are you so nervous? Does the cut hurt a lot? I’m worried.” In this close proximity, Jihoon smelt the scent of coffee and mint strongly again. He could feel it caressing him trying to calm him down, but the only thing the omega wanted was to smell it strongly on himself again. He wanted Soonyoung to scent him again. No, scenting wasn’t even enough at this point. He needed much more.

“It doesn’t hurt a lot. Don’t worry.” The doors of the elevator opened and Jihoon stumbled outside leaning against the side of the elevator. Soonyoung looked at him with worried eyes and Jihoon tried to push the desire away that was slowly taking over his whole body and mind. The omega saw a change in Soonyoung’s gaze and knew immediately that the other must have noticed what he was feeling exactly. It wasn’t surprising that the alpha would sense it when his pheromones were easily betraying him all the time.

Soonyoung licked his lips nervously and took Jihoon’s hand. They walked quietly to the alphas car and both got inside without saying another word. Soonyoung started the engine and drove off to work without saying anything for a couple of minutes. When he started talking again, it wasn’t the topic Jihoon had expected. 

“Should we pick your car up on our break? It can’t stand there forever. You probably want it back, right?” Jihoon felt like crying. Instead of talking about the awkward situation from earlier Soonyoung asked him about something completely different to lighten the mood. He had been right to put all his trust into Soonyoung even after getting rejected. Soonyoung was perfect and the only one he wanted.

“Yes, I would like that,” Jihoon said in a small voice. He turned his head around and saw a gentle smile on Soonyoung’s face. It melted Jihoon’s heart and he wanted to repay the other immediately for his kindness. 

“I made an appointment with the doctor for after work.” Soonyoung hummed happily. 

“That’s good. Don’t worry Jihoonie, I’ll be with you the whole time.” Jihoon didn’t worry about that at all. He worried much more about falling so deeply into love with Soonyoung that he would never be able to live without him anymore. 

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon and Soonyoung had an easy talk afterwards in the car and walked in a good mood to their office after arriving at the police station. Soonyoung stopped in front of the open plan office and grinned widely at the omega. “I have some calls to do, so I’ll go to my own office for now. See you later then?” Jihoon nodded his head and secretly wished for the other to kiss him. He knew it was highly inappropriate because they were at work, but parting just like this felt a bit sad. Against his hope, Soonyoung turned around and left for his office and Jihoon felt his heart sink slightly. He shook his head irritatedly and pushed all lovey dovey thoughts aside. He was a man of work and should think only about that right now.

When Jihoon entered the office, he got greeted by the sight of Seungkwan hanging over Vernon’s shoulder. The alpha was obviously showing the other something on his phone. It seemed like Soonyoung and him weren’t the only ones stupid in love early in the morning.

“Morning everyone,” Jihoon said loudly enough for the other’s to turn their heads to him. 

“Hyung! you didn’t even contact us again after leaving with Soonyoung-hyung yesterday. You have no heart for your friends,” Seokmin said while smiling, clearly only wanting to make a joke. Jihoon just wanted to throw a rude comment back at him when he saw Seungkwan and Vernon staring at him intently. 

“Is something wrong?” He asked the two in an annoyed voice and Vernon cleared his throat and looked away. Seungkwan on the other hand kept on watching the small police officer interestedly.

“Are you and Soonyoung-hyung dating now?” Jihoon froze up in shock. He had totally forgotten that every alpha and omega would be able to smell that Soonyoung had scented him the day before. He had confidently said yesterday that he wanted everyone to smell Soonyoung on him, but now it made him feel shy after all.

“What are you talking about?” Wonwoo asked the secretary and Seungkwan smiled slyly at him. 

“Jihoon-hyung is covered in Soonyoung-hyung’s scent. I’m pretty sure Soonyoung-hyung must have scented him for one reason or another.” Jihoon wondered for a moment if Jeonghan had already rubbed off on the younger or if Seungkwan had been like this in the first place. Either way, he didn’t like his loud mouth. One day he would have to pay for that comment.

“Care to explain, Jihoon?” Before the omega could answer Wonwoo, he heard a laugh coming from the door and knew immediately that things would go completely downhill for him now. 

“Yes, care to explain, Jihoonie?” Jihoon turned around and saw Jeonghan standing in the door with a big smirk on his lips. He really hated the too perfect timing of the older one. 

“We are at work, this is hardly the place to explain anything,” he gritted out lowly, but Jeonghan just happily walked into the room and laid an arm around Jihoon’s shoulder. 

“Aww, don’t be such a killjoy. It was so cute how Soonyoung asked you yesterday to be his boyfriend and it was even cuter how you answered. But maybe you want to tell that story yourself?” Jihoon shrugged Jeonghan’s arm off and sat down on his chair. 

“Go away hyung and gossip somewhere else.”

“But this is my most favorite gossip right now! I’m still angry how you didn’t contact me after everything that happened yesterday, so you shouldn’t take this happiness away from me.” Jihoon looked angrily at the omega, but kept otherwise quiet. He knew he wouldn’t get out of this situation. If Jeonghan had decided to see him suffer, there would be no way to stop him.

Jeonghan sat down on Jihoon’s table and started retelling the story from the evening before. How Seungcheol and him caught Jihoon and Soonyoung kissing, how they explained the situation inside Jihoon’s flat and how the omega had said yes to Soonyoung’s question to be boyfriends. At least Jeonghan had been nice enough to skip the part of Jihoon wanting to have sex with Soonyoung under all circumstances. Jeonghan was a devil sometimes, but he was a good friend. He knew that this topic would have crossed the line.

“That’s so great hyung! Congratulations! It’s nothing to be embarrassed about!” Seungkwan squealed and Jihoon simply winked it off. It wasn’t too bad that everything was out in the open now. Also Seungkwan was right, being Soonyoung’s boyfriend wasn’t something to be embarrassed about. Quite on the contrary, it was something he was proud of. It was just a very new situation for Jihoon, so he couldn’t help being slightly shy about it. Though, this feeling would most probably go away very soon because Jihoon was anything but a shy person.

“Enough small talk now and let’s start working. Can we interrogate Min Jaeho today?” Wonwoo shook his head at the question. 

“No, he’s still recovering from Soonyoung’s assault his lawyer said, but we can most probably interrogate him tomorrow.” A dark chuckle left Jihoon’s mouth. Recovering from Soonyoung’s assault he had said… As if Soonyoung didn’t rescue Jihoon’s life with that. Lawyers were great at twisting the truth. 

“Okay, then we can only start writing the report for the case. That will probably take us many days or even weeks because the case dragged on for so long.” The whole team sighed loudly, but nevertheless started collecting their work material.

Jihoon opened one of the drawers of his table to get his notebook out and saw the pink plush cat lying inside. He really should take it home with him soon. This wasn’t the right place for the first present he got from Soonyoung. He shoved the pink cat slightly to the side and took the notebook outside and turned it on. While waiting for the computer to load, his thoughts drifted back to Soonyoung. He was used by now that his thoughts kept on revolving about the alpha when he had nothing to do because it had been like this ever since he didn’t take the suppressants anymore, but this time it was awkwardly different. He remembered how Soonyoung had kissed him and touched him, how his voice had sounded while telling him that he wanted to know where else he was sensitive, how much he wanted to sit on Soonyoung’s lap again and grind so long on him until he could feel the other’s dick becoming hard.

Jihoon gripped the table tightly until his fingers turned abnormally white. He wanted to run over to Soonyoung’s office and it was insanely difficult holding himself back. The need he was experiencing was completely overwhelming. He got up from his chair and walked out of the office. Instead of going to Soonyoung’s office like he so much wanted to, he walked to the bathroom. Inside he went to a sink and splashed cold water into his face a few times. When he looked up into the mirror, he got scared by his own reflection. His eyes were almost pitch black staring with insatiable desire back at him. He wanted sex right now. Yesterday the want felt more natural because Soonyoung had been by his side, but right now he knew it was abnormal.

Jihoon walked over to a cubicle and looked himself in. He had to stay inside until the desire had faded away or he didn’t know what he would do - probably something that was not very appropriate to do in a work space.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It had been a horrible day for Jihoon. The desire kept on creeping up on him again and again. He always went back to the bathroom when it happened and waited until he had calmed down. When it had happened for the fourth time, Vernon had been waiting for him outside with an awkward smile on his face. He couldn’t just shrug Vernon off because he was an alpha and easily smelt what was going on with Jihoon. Still, he only told the younger one to not worry too much and that his pheromones were out of control because of the stress from the day before. He couldn’t tell him the truth because he didn’t feel comfortable with it. This was the best answer he could give him. Vernon just nodded sympathetically and both of them went back to work. The alpha didn’t ask him again.

Jihoon still couldn’t get his feelings under check around noon and decided it would be best to not pick up his car with Soonyoung today. He wrote the alpha a message saying he had too much work to do and that they should pick up his car another day. Jihoon knew it was all in vain and that he was only playing for time. Afterall, he had to meet Soonyoung after work to go with him to the doctor.

The time was going by awfully slow for Jihoon. He was constantly looking at the clock but the time just didn’t seem to move. He was tired from fighting his needs constantly and just wanted this day to be over. When the clock showed him finally that it was 5PM and time to go home, he started getting nervous. He wasn’t prepared to see Soonyoung yet. Even though he wasn’t prepared, he smelt Soonyoung’s scent invading his nose because the other must have left his office just in this second. The omega got up in a hurry and shoved his stuff into a drawer. He said a quick goodbye and stormed out of the office, almost crashing right into Soonyoung.

“Couldn’t wait to see me?” Jihoon took a couple of deep breaths seeing the alpha this close. Luckily he had just gotten over a very needy phase a while ago and felt like he could hold on right now. 

“I just didn’t want the others to ask annoying questions.” Soonyoung smiled at him and didn’t comment further on it. They walked quietly to the car and the ride to the doctor was just as quiet. Jihoon was trying to keep his thoughts busy with all kinds of things and with great effort it worked out somehow. He got through the whole car ride without jumping Soonyoung and thanked all greater powers for it.

Jihoon sighed deeply when they arrived at the hospital and this time Soonyoung commented on it. “Let’s talk to the doctor. He can help for sure.” Jihoon hated this whole situation. Of course he had no problem with wanting Soonyoung, but not to the extent of almost losing his mind.

Jihoon didn’t answer the alpha and simply walked to the entrance of the hospital. He remembered how he came here the last time after his first heat. Everything had been so overwhelming for him - the sounds, the colors and the smells. Now his heightened senses had become so normal to him that he didn’t even think about it anymore. He wondered for a moment how it would be to take the suppressants again. Would he miss the different scents and the vivid colors? Probably not because he had lived very well all his life without them.

Jihoon walked up to the receptionist and explained to her that he had an appointment. She nodded and told him to go inside immediately because the patient before had already left. Jihoon looked at Soonyoung nervously and the alpha went over to him and grabbed his hand. “Everything will be fine,” he reassured the younger and Jihoon finally started walking to the doctor’s office.

As soon as the two of them went inside the room, the doctor got up from his seat smiling brightly at the two of them. “What a pleasant surprise. Who did you bring with you Lee Jihoon-sshi?“ Jihoon was caught off-guard by the question, not knowing what to answer. 

“He’s my... he's…” Lucky for Jihoon, Soonyoung wasn’t flustered at all. 

“I'm his boyfriend,” the alpha answered smoothly squeezing Jihoon’s hand slightly. All of them sat down and Jihoon couldn’t help noticing the amused glint in the doctor’s eyes. It ticked him off.

“I didn’t expect you to ever come here with your boyfriend, even less with your boyfriend who is an alpha.” Jihoon made an angry noise. 

“It just happened somehow.” He heard Soonyoung chuckle quietly beside him and wanted to rip his hand in annoyance out of the other’s hand, but stopped when he saw the alphas fond smile. He really was gone for the guy. He could do or say anything he wanted as long as he would smile afterwards at him like this. Jihoon felt very stupid.

“So what can I do for you?” Jihoon didn’t know how to answer. This whole situation was very embarrassing to explain. It had already been bad when Soonyoung had told Jeonghan and Seungcheol yesterday about it, but telling his doctor was even more awful. He knew he shouldn’t feel like that because the doctor had probably heard already stranger things, but he still couldn’t help feeling embarrassed. 

“If you don’t want to talk about it, I could do it?” Soonyoung asked him in a gentle voice and Jihoon almost felt like crying again. Why was the alpha so overwhelmingly nice all the time? It was difficult for Jihoon to cope with it. He didn’t want to say that his other boyfriends hadn’t been nice, but clearly not to the extend Soonyoung was. Maybe it had been his fault because Jihoon had always been a bit harsh in relationships, or maybe alphas just handled relationships differently than betas or maybe Soonyoung was just special. Jihoon had a feeling that the latter might be the case.

Jihoon nodded his head at Soonyoung’s question and looked down at the floor. He didn’t even want to see the doctor’s face when he heard the whole story. “Jihoon and I were dancing around each other for quite some weeks, but I was too blind to realize my feelings fast. Yesterday we were in a life or death situation because of work and I finally confessed to Jihoon. When we came back home, Jihoon aggressively insisted on having sex with me. He only calmed down after I scented him. Also today I have the feeling that it’s the same as yesterday. He seems to be constantly working against his needs. It’s worrying.” Jihoon swallowed heavily. Hearing that was even worse than thinking about it in your head.

The doctor didn’t answer for a while and only kept on humming lowly. Jihoon couldn’t resist now looking up to see the doctor’s face. He didn’t seem to be very worried, but more astonished. “You’re reacting like this because of your boyfriend’s pheromones. Your body thinks it needs to go into heat because your hormones are out of control. You took the suppressants for such a long time that only another heat can calm down your hormones and now that you got an alpha boyfriend, it’s starting to react like that. Being constantly close to your alphas pheromones can already speed up the process, but there is one thing that is even more potent than an alphas pheromones and that’s an alphas sperm.” Jihoon let go of Soonyoung’s hand in shock hearing the explanation. 

“Oh my god please kill me! Why do I have to listen to all of this?” The doctor shook his head amusedly at the omegas outbreak.

“I‘m curious about one thing, Lee Jihoon-sshi. When did you two meet?” Jihoon looked strangely at the doctor, but answered anyway. 

“For the first time at university. And now some weeks ago again because we started working together.” The doctor tapped with his finger against the table, an unreadable expression on his face. 

“When did you have a headache for the first time?”

“At university.” The doctor nodded and wrote something down quickly. 

“When did they get gravely worse?” Now even Jihoon noticed where this whole conversation was leading to. He almost didn’t want to answer. 

“After meeting Soonyoung again…” The doctor wrote something down once more and laid the pen on the table afterwards. 

“You’re naturally attracted to each other, aren‘t you? Your suppressants failed you because you were close to an alpha who you are perfectly matched with. It all makes sense now.” The doctor was right. The first time he ever had a strong headache was after rejecting Soonyoung at university. At that time he had thought it was just a hangover. And after Soonyoung had started working at his police station, his headaches had gradually gotten worse. Especially when he had been very close to the alpha, the headache on the next day had been horrible, like on the day he had cuddled drunkenly Soonyoung on his couch. 

That his suppressants had stopped working too early might have been a result of being close to Soonyoung in a very small room. He didn’t notice the other’s pheromones at that time because he couldn’t smell them while taking the suppressants, but of course they had been there, probably pulling at him the whole time. 

“I can’t believe something like that can happen,” Jihoon said in wonder. 

“The suppressants you took are very strong, but your true nature will always be stronger. Your body must have struggled a lot.”

Jihoon was stunned speechless. He couldn’t believe that his biology would work that way. It all made sense, but at the same time it didn’t make sense at all. One’s biology shouldn’t be able to work like this. It was horrible.

“Is there nothing we can do to calm down his hormones? Our relationship is very new and Jihoon still has troubles with his omega biology…” The doctor immediately interrupted Soonyoung, who had been strangely quiet for a while. 

“Unfortunately no. It’s a rare case that hormones go that much out of control and there is no medicamentation for it. That’s why I kept on saying that it’s better to take a break from the suppressants, then something like this wouldn’t have happened.” Jihoon looked at Soonyoung and saw a grave expression on the other’s face. He didn’t seem happy with the outcome.

“I have one more question,” the alpha said lowly. “How high is the possibility that Jihoon will go feral in his next heat again with his hormones being out of control like this?” The doctor looked seriously at the both of them and Jihoon had the feeling they wouldn’t like the answer. 

“Close to 100 percent, I would say. When hormones and pheromones are that much out of control, the mind of an omega shuts down while in heat.” Soonyoung suddenly got up from his seat and Jihoon followed along. 

“Thank you very much doctor. I think there is nothing more you can tell us,” the alpha said with an unusual cold voice and walked to the door. Jihoon just wanted to follow him when another question went through his mind. 

“Will my hormones and pheromones be completely under control again after a heat? Even when the heat will be a lot earlier than it should be?” The doctor cocked his head to the side and thought about an answer for a while. 

“Almost, I would say. Maybe not to 100 percent, but you most probably will feel all fine again.” Jihoon couldn’t help smiling at the doctor. At least he got some good news today.

Jihoon followed Soonyoung outside and the alpha still had a grim expression on his face. “It’s not that bad, Soon. We just have to go through one heat and then things will be fine.” Jihoon grabbed Soonyoung’s hand but the older shrugged it off at once. 

“Don’t you understand what this means for our relationship? We have to hurry into sex and go through a heat you won’t even remember? Does that sound ‘not so bad to you’? To me it sounds horrible.” Soonyoung walked away and left a stunned Jihoon behind. He knew that the other wanted to take things slow, but in Jihoon’s mind the whole situation wasn’t a big drama. The faster they had sex, the faster he’d go into heat and the faster he would be back to normal. For Jihoon it was very simple and now he only had to convince Soonyoung that having sex as fast as possible would be the best for both of them.

The omega sprinted down the corridors of the hospital and only caught up with his boyfriend when he was opening his car. “Soon, don’t be angry, okay? Let’s just talk about it.” Soonyoung shrugged, opened the door and sat down in the driver’s seat. Jihoon went over to the other side and sat down in the passenger's seat while Soonyoung was already starting the engine, never looking at the omega. 

“Soon, please. It’s just sex.” A low growl came out of the alphas throat and Jihoon immediately shut his mouth, not daring to say another word.

“You don’t understand this Jihoon. You know nothing about a relationship between omega and alpha and you know nothing about sex between omega and alpha. It all needs time to evolve the right way and you need most probably even more time than other omegas to get used to everything. This is not how things should go and I won’t play along.” Jihoon was so frustrated with the alpha that he felt like throwing his phone in anger out of the window. Why did Soonyoung have to make everything much more complicated than it was? It was just a temporary thing that would be over soon.

“But it could have been a lot worse than this. At least I’m not sick permanently.” Jihoon sensed Soonyoung’s anger fading away slightly and something like guilt was now heavy on his pheromones.

“Yes, I know. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like this. I’m glad that you are not seriously sick. Still, it pains me that we can’t have a normal relationship.” Jihoon sighed quietly, in his mind Soonyoung’s behavior was starting to get ridiculous. 

“But other people sleep with each other and then start a relationship and it works just fine!”

“But we are not other people! We are Jihoon and Soonyoung and that’s not how things should be. Can’t you… I know it’s difficult, but can’t you bear with it for a bit longer?” Jihoon couldn’t believe that Soonyoung really asked him that. 

“You even said to the doctor that it had been difficult for me the whole day. You know how difficult it is for me, but you are still asking me that?”

Soonyoung held at a red light and closed his eyes for a moment. He seemed to be exhausted. “Please Jihoon, let’s just date for a while and then I’ll give you anything you want.” Jihoon was fed up with the talk and didn’t say a single word until they arrived home. The omega left Soonyoung’s car in a hurry and took the stairs instead of the eascalator and walked up to the third floor. He knocked loudly at the door of Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s flat.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you make loving eyes at your boyfriend right now?” Jihoon shoved Seungcheol aside and went into the flat. After he had taken off his shoes he sat down in the armchair, his eyes an annoyed glint in them. 

“Cheol is right. What are you doing here?” Jeonghan asked this time and the police officer leaned back staring at the ceiling for a while. 

“I need help,” the omega muttured lowly.

When Jihoon looked back down, Seungcheol had sat down beside Jeonghan and both looked questioning at him. “How can I make an alpha lose control?” Seungcheol coughed loudly at Jihoon’s blunt question. 

“Why do you want to know, Jihoonie?” The omega shrugged and took a glass from the table that was either Seungcheol’s or Jeonghan’s and downed the content in one go. 

“The doctor said that my hormones are out of control and my body wants to go into heat. I’m going crazy for sex because an alphas' semen is what brings me the fastest into heat. It’s not all that bad, but Soonyoung refuses to have sex with me because he wants to take it slow!!” 

“Ji, don’t even think about it. Soonyoung is right. An alpha-omega-relationship needs time.” Jihoon huffed loudly at Seungcheol’s words. 

“I don’t have that time! I’m slowly losing my mind. I can only think about sex and I hate it! The only thing that can help me is going into heat.” The mated couple looked worriedly at their friend and it just agitated Jihoon more.

“Cheol is right, Jihoonie. Give it a bit more time. If you try to suppress the need to have sex for a while, it will be better for the both of you.“ Jihoon slammed the glass he had in his hand all the time onto the table and Seungcheol winced slightly at the loud noise. 

“Do you not listen to one word I‘m saying? I couldn’t concentrate on work the whole day. How should I live like that? I can’t stand it anymore and I need your help!!” Jeonghan still looked skeptical at him, but Seungcheol finally gave in. 

“Okay, okay. First of all, jealousy always works well, but that would probably destroy your relationship. There is one more thing…” Jeonghan hit his mate on the leg and whispered to him to stop already. 

“What is it? Come on, tell me. I don’t want to flirt with another alpha. There needs to be something else.” Jeonghan and Seungcheol looked at each other and Jihoon got the feeling they were talking through telepathy, which of course couldn’t be true because not even a mated pair can use telepathy, but it certainly looked like it. 

Finally Seungcheol turned around and answered Jihoon. “An alphas' pride cracks easily when they can’t fully satisfy their omega.” Jihoon was confused by the answer. 

“What do you mean?” Seungcheol rubbed his arm slightly and Jihoon knew that gesture already. The alpha always did it when he was embarrassed. 

“For example if an omega has to resort to masturbating. Alphas hate that because they feel like they are not enough to satisfy their omega.” Jihoon blinked a couple of times not believing what he had just heard. 

“Wow, are you really that dumb?”

“Shut it Ji! It’s an instinct we can’t help. An alpha just wants their omega to be completely happy and satisfied. It’s not like masturbating is completely forbidden, we just don’t want to hear about it!” Jihoon chuckled at the alphas outburst and got up from the armchair. 

“Thanks hyung. That’s easier than I thought. I‘ll be off now.“ Jeonghan got up from the couch as well and followed the younger omega to the door. „Jihoonie, don’t take it too far. I still think you just should wait until you’re both ready. Don’t destroy your relationship so carelessly after fighting so hard for it.” Jihoon turned around to Jeonghan, stubbornness radiating off him in waves. 

“I can’t wait anymore.“

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon walked up and down in front of Soonyoung’s flat. He had felt very confident when he rushed out of his friends flat, but now he felt insecurity slowly creeping up on him. It was difficult to decide if he should really go through with his plan or go home for now. On the one hand Soonyoung had been so very angry with him earlier that he didn’t want to risk agitating the alpha again. He didn’t want to anger him because he liked him too much and wanted the other to be always happy. He didn’t want the alpha to regret being in a relationship with him. That last thought scared him the most.

On the other hand he couldn’t go through another day like this one. Work was important to Jihoon and he hated being not able to concentrate on it. He hated being a slave to his biology and he just wanted to be done with it already. Jihoon stopped in front of Soonyoung’s door and put a finger on the doorbell, but immediately pulled it back again. The words of Jeonghan resounded in his head and he got scared that he would really destroy their relationship with his plan.

Jihoon leaned against the wall besides Soonyoung’s flat and let his head roll from side to side. Yes or no, yes or no. It was so difficult to decide. He closed his eyes and searched for the doorbell on the wall and pressed down. He had no other choice, he couldn’t live like this.

When Soonyoung opened the door, Jihoon was still standing with his back against the wall. The alpha took a step outside and finally discovered Jihoon. “I thought you went to your flat because you were angry with me.” Jihoon felt nervousness creeping up on him. He still wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing, but there was no turning back anymore. 

“Can I come in?”

Soonyoung hesitated for a moment, but stepped aside in the end. Jihoon slowly made his way inside, took his shoes off and sat down on the couch. He remembered at once how Soonyoung had scented him here yesterday and it made him fidget around slightly. Soonyoung sat down beside him, but with a much larger gap than the omega had anticipated. He must be still cautious because of their earlier talk. 

“Why are you here?” The alpha asked and Jihoon wasn’t sure what would be the best way to start this conversation, so he did what he was best at - being blunt. 

“Sleep with me.” The scent of Soonyoung’s pheromones shifted immediately and Jihoon knew he made the other angry again or at least frustrated. 

“I thought I explained to you earlier why it is too early for that. I want to go on dates with you and court you like any other alpha. Just give me a bit of time.” Jihoon gnawed on his lip. Soonyoung’s words made him feel bad. He wanted to go on dates too and just have a happy time with his alpha, but his biology wasn’t allowing it.

“Soonyoung, this day has been hell for me. I went to the bathroom countless times to calm myself down. I got almost no work done and I simply can’t live like this. I need my life to go back to normal.” The alpha looked unhappy and laid his face into his hands not saying anything for a long while. 

“Soon, I need help. Please help me.” Soonyoung got up from the couch and walked some steps away. 

“I can’t Jihoonie.”

This was it. Jihoon had tried everything he could do fair and square and now he had to resort to dirty play. “Then I‘ll just do it myself.” Soonyoung looked confused at the omega sitting on his couch.

“What do you mean?” Jihoon just shrugged and picked at his jeans boredly. 

“I have enough toys at home to satisfy myself. I‘m horny so I’ll just leave now. Bye, Soonyoung.” Jihoon got up from the couch, but Soonyoung grabbed his wrist while passing him. His hold was very strong and Jihoon had to swallow down a pained noise. 

“Don’t,” the alpha spat out angrily and Jihoon knew that his plan was working.

“What now, Soonyoung?” Jihoon shouldn’t play this dirty, but he couldn’t help it. The constant need was clouding his brain. He was just too scared to live through another day without being able to control himself and having no relief in prospect. 

“I should be the one to get you off.” Jihoon turned to look at Soonyoung, glaring coldly at him. 

“Yes, I think so too, but you keep on refusing me.”

Jihoon could see the battle the alpha was fighting within himself. His eyes were betraying his otherwise straight face. “I could probably get you off if you are so much on the edge. No sex though.” Jihoon wanted to let out a relieved sigh, but held it back. For the time being Soonyoung’s offer would be enough to get his constant need to get off in check. He would have liked it more if Soonyoung would have agreed on sex, but this was a good compromise. Maybe it would give them some more quiet time afterwards. 

“I don’t care as long as you touch me.”

Jihoon stared at Soonyoung who held his hand still in a strong grip. Anger was radiating off him in waves and the omega felt almost bad for doing this. In the end the desire was much stronger than the regret of agitating the alpha and he couldn’t help feeling contentment settle in as Soonyoung let go of his hand, his pheromones finally calming down. Jihoon smiled sweetly at him showing the other with his gaze how much he wanted him. Soonyoung’s pheromones were starting to flicker again, but this time not in anger but in arousement. All regret Jihoon had ever felt because he made the alpha angry melted away and he let the desire take completely over his body. He had struggled so hard to fight it the whole day that he finally felt free again. 

Jihoon took a step closer to the alpha and lightly gripped his arm. There was only one question left in his mind after arousal had completely taken over the omega.

“How do you want me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) The good news is that I’m back surprisingly early with a new chapter :D The bad news is that I’m also back with another cliffhanger. Let me tell you though, this one actually wasn’t planned, which doesn’t make things better, but yeah… next chapter will be from Soonyoung’s pov again and I needed to do the cut here. I’m truly sorry T_T Everyone is allowed to hate me for a while now lol
> 
> This chapter is much longer than my normal ones that are around 5k, this one is 7k. That’s why quite a lot happened. The chapter started really sweet and ended in chaos. If anyone expected me writing just happy stuff for the time being... of course that wouldn’t happen. I still have so much of the story left, how can everything just be happy? :D Life is difficult and relationships are difficult and shit just happens. In normal life there aren’t of course these alpha-omega-problems, but everyone has some problems one or the other way. Still, there will be lots of happy times coming up in this story. I also don’t feel like what is happening right now is particularly unhappy, it’s just a bit problematic. But problems are there to be solved :D
> 
> So after working my ass off day and night yesterday like a mad person to get this chapter finished (7k is even for me in one day insane), I’ll try to finish the next one on Saturday. Not sure if I’ll really manage though haha. Writing yesterday was easy and my motivation was good, but I can’t predict how it will be the upcoming days. Latest I’ll update next Tuesday again though!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter even though it has a cliffhanger D: Thank you like always for reading, giving kudos and bookmarking Code Red. Last but not least thank you so much to my dearest comment writers. Even when nothing spectacular happens in my chapters, you are still commenting T_T This is not twitter where people write qrts to everything and I know it’s annoying to write comments here, so I’m forever grateful that some of you keep on commenting. I sometimes wish I could put my works also on twitter to get tons of comments, but for the things I write I need appropriate warnings and tags, so I’ll keep on putting up my stories on ao3 (also no one would like to read a long story like Code Red on twitter hahaha).  
Thank you so much for all the support, the loud one and the quiet one too. I love you <3
> 
> If you’re interested in my writing process, you can add me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel). And if you have questions or things you can’t write here, you can write me on [curious cat ](https://curiouscat.me/just_a_pinwheel).


	28. Giving You Everything

Soonyoung knew what Jihoon was doing. When the omega had waited in front of his door for him, it was immediately evident to him what was the reason for his visit. He could see the desperation, the fear and also the determination in Jihoon’s eyes. His sweet scent was swirling around the alpha trying to coax him into doing what he wanted. Even though Soonyoung knew what was going to happen and he felt very much unhappy about it he let Jihoon into his flat and hoped that this wouldn’t be the beginning of the end.

Their discussion inside his flat had led to nothing. It was a last rebellion of Soonyoung’s alpha mind, the final straw he grasped before letting go of his own beliefs and needs. Jihoon wasn’t able to understand what Soonyoung was telling him because he knew nothing about alpha-omega-relationships and he couldn’t even blame him for that. He had lived his whole life as a beta and didn’t bother with going deeper into the relationships of other genders. This was the reason why Soonyoung was afraid and reluctant to give into Jihoon’s request.. He was too scared that Jihoon wouldn’t be able to cope with the things that were bound to happen. But at this point he could only put all his trust into Jihoon and hope that they would get through everything together. He would do his utmost for their relationship to work out.

When Jihoon started to provoke him, he could do nothing else than give into his request. He had really wished for a quiet and slow start into their relationship, so Jihoon would feel comfortable, but the omegas biology had other plans. Soonyoung hoped that getting the omega off would be enough to take the edge off of Jihoon at least for a couple of days and they could enjoy some peace and quiet together. Maybe go on the weekend on a nice date and simply spend some quality time with each other. 

Soonyoung looked at Jihoon who was still standing in front of him waiting for an answer to his question. The omegas pheromones were getting heavier and Soonyoung felt his own arousal building up slowly. If he would wait too long, the possibility of losing control would become much higher. He couldn’t risk scaring Jihoon, so he needed them to start right now.

Soonyoung went back to the couch and sat down. He looked with a heavy gaze at Jihoon gesturing the other to come over to him. “Pants off,” he said lowly and Jihoon hastily pulled his jeans together with his underwear off. The alphas' breath hitched at the sight. Jihoon was almost completely hard already and when he turned a bit to the side, he could see the perfect ass of omega. Jihoon’s ass was one of his best features. He had already appreciated way too many times back at university stealing glances when the younger one hadn’t been looking. Soonyoung really wished he could take in the amazing view a bit longer, but unfortunately he needed to hurry up.

“On my lap, Jihoonie.” The omega didn’t question the order, but simply did as told. He placed himself on his knees so he was straddling the alpha and gave him another coy smile. Soonyoung was sure that Jihoon would make him lose control completely one day with his alluring attitude, but that day shouldn’t be today.

Soonyoung grabbed Jihoon’s hips with both hands and pulled him slightly closer. “How do you want me to get you off?” Jihoon laughed at the question airly. 

“You know what I want, Soon.” Yes, Soonyoung knew it. An omega wanted to get filled up, pleasuring his cock was only secondary. 

“Right. Tell me if you dislike anything, okay?” Jihoon simply nodded his head and stared in anticipation at him. Soonyoung felt his alpha biology pulling at him, telling him to satisfy the omega completely, but for the first time in his life, he couldn’t just give into these feelings, but instead he started getting scared. He was scared to do something wrong and lose Jihoon. The omega wasn’t like the others before him. Jihoon was special because when he looked at him Soonyoung felt like coming finally home. If it was Jihoon, he could imagine that the word eternity really had a meaning.

“Kiss me,” he told Jihoon lowly, his voice slightly raspy. The omega complied happily and leaned down to him. While their tongues were in a feverish dance, Soonyoung let one hand glide from Jihoon’s hips to his ass. He kneaded the perfectly shaped cheek for a moment, but Jihoon made an impatient noise breaking their kiss. Soonyoung gave up on dragging everything out unnecessarily at once because he just made it more difficult for the both of them.

Soonyoung let his hand glide lower and probed with the tip of his finger at Jihoon’s hole. Slick was already gushing out slightly. It was too much for the current situation. Outside of his heat and preheat, Jihoon shouldn’t produce that much slick. He gently pushed one finger into the omega making Jihoon moan quietly. 

“Is it okay?” Soonyoung was sure that Jihoon wasn’t feeling any pain with all the slick he was producing, but he still couldn’t help worrying. 

“Yes, it’s good. Good but not enough.” Jihoon started moving his hips against Soonyoung’s sole finger and Soonyoung had to will away the rar want that was trying to take over him at the erotic sight. Jihoon was unbelievably sexy moving on his lap like this. 

“More! Give me more, dammit!” Soonyoung inserted a second finger without complaining because Jihoon would be able to take it easily being this wet. He crooked his fingers and searched for the omegas' prostate. Jihoon’s whole body twitched hard when he found it. The younger’s fingers dug hardly into the alphas' shoulders, but Soonyoung barely felt the pain because he was too intoxicated by Jihoon’s pheromones and the perfect sight in front of him.

„Fuck, right there! Again! J-just just.. Soon…“ The omega threw his head back in pleasure and Soonyoung hardly scissored his fingers opening up Jihoon more. The slick ran down his fingers thickly filling the air with the overly sweet raspberry scent. 

“Your scent is just as pretty as you, Jihoonie.” Jihoon bit his lip trying to hold back the moans that were constantly threatening to leave his lips. 

“S-shut up you smooth talker ahh, ahhh”. Soonyoung chuckled and stopped scissoring Jihoon open and instead started moving his fingers in and out of the omegas' leaking hole. Jihoon’s eyes were visibly hazing up and a silent „please“ fell off his lip. The omegas' pheromones were spiking in intensity and he let out a very high pitched moan. 

“So good…. please more. Please…” Hearing Jihoon's plea, Soonyoung felt the need to satisfy the other better pulling at him strongly, so the alpha pushed a third finger into Jihoon. The omegas' hole swallowed the three digits easily after being stretched open enough and Soonyoung was very glad at this moment to have chosen this position. He would have lost his mind seeing his fingers going in and out of Jihoon’s pretty ass while constantly leaking slick. Soonyoung felt his dick twitching in his pants at the thought. He was already half hard just from smelling Jihoon’s pheromones and seeing the omega like this. He would most probably have a horrible boner when they’ve finished. On top of that, he constantly needed to push the thought aside how it would feel inside of Jihoon. The younger’s inside wasn’t only invitingly hot, but he was quite tight for an omega too. Jihoon had never had sex with an alpha and this was most probably the reason for being so amazingly tight. Soonyoung felt the arousal flowing through him even hotter at the thought. He was going into dangerous territory right now. He needed to hold himself in check or he would snap very soon.

“More please. Please, please, p-please…” Jihoon couldn’t stop begging and Soonyoung knew it was because the omega in him had taken over. Jihoon wouldn’t act like this normally, but to Soonyoung it was oh so satisfying to hear the other beg. 

“Please, I feel too empty. Please, I can... ahh, I‘ll make you feel good too. You can d-do whatever you want with me, just please…” Soonyoung swallowed hard. It was beginning to get really difficult now for him to hold back. Jihoon was trying to lure him into sex with everything an omega was capable of, everything that made an alpha lose his mind. He needed to get Jihoon to climax fast. 

Soonyoung moved his fingers harshly in and out of Jihoon, sure to brush his prostate each time. Jihoon was holding onto the alphas' shoulders all the while for dear life, trying to keep up with the harsh speed, rolling his hips faster and faster. The omegas' moans were loud and Soonyoung couldn’t help gripping his hip even harder. He imagined how easy it would be to lay the other down on the couch and push his cock into the tight heat. He could make the omega feel so much better this way. Soonyoung bit his lip hardly and tried to clear the thoughts of sex out of his head. He wanted the other so much, it was sheer torture. Jihoon seemed to sense Soonyoung’s inner turmoil and slowed down a bit, opened his eyes and gave him a sweet smile before moaning long and drawn out. 

“You don’t, don’t ahhh need to hold back. You can ah ah, can have meee. Plea- AHHHH!!” Soonyoung had pressed with his fingertips hard against the omegas' prostate to shut him up. Jihoon was really testing his patience. 

“Please y-your, your cock. I ahhh need it hmm inside…” Soonyoung let go of Jihoon’s hip and grabbed his head and pulled it down to kiss the smaller one. It was the only way to shut up Jihoon effectively.

Jihoon was beginning to shake slightly, his hips were stuttering in an erratic rhythm. His tongue tried to keep up with Soonyoung’s, but the kiss became more and more sloppy until he was just moaning constantly into the alphas' mouth. Soonyoung finally broke the kiss and Jihoon let out a high pitched and loud moan throwing his head back. 

“Nghh, I‘m coming, c-coming ah ah ah... Soon- hmm Soonyoung, ahhh…” It was the hottest thing Soonyoung had ever seen and heard in his life. He needed to make Jihoon come many more times in the future. He needed to hear his sweet voice while moaning that he was close to release, while moaning his name oh so prettily. He was beautiful and sexy and everything Soonyoung had ever dreamed of. Soonyoung kissed along the side of Jihoon’s throat up to his ear and licked gently at the shell before biting down on the omegas' sensitive ear. 

“I like you so much Jihoonie,” he whispered lowly and Jihoon immediately moved his head more to the side baring his neck to the alpha. His body started twitching strongly and the omega orgasmend at last. Soonyoung reached for the first time this evening for the younger’s cock and stroked him through release while the fingers of his other hand were still applying pressure to his prostate. Jihoon let out one broken moan after the other, not able to form words anymore. He was shaking uncontrollably while clinging onto the alpha, barely able to hold himself up. 

When the omega started sobbing in overstimulation into Soonyoung’s shoulder, the alpha finally pulled his fingers out carefully. More slick was running out of Jihoon’s stretched hole down his ass and legs, but the smaller one didn’t react to it. Jihoon was just breathing harshly while trying to come down from his high. He laid his head on Soonyoung’s shoulder tiredly while tightly holding onto the alphas' body. He didn’t move for a couple of minutes and Soonyoung started to get slightly restless and worried. 

“Are you okay, Jihoonie? Does your throat hurt because you moved it too much or…” Jihoon dragged himself off of Soonyoung’s shoulder and leaned over to kiss the alpha. The kiss was only short before he pulled back again and gave him a scolding look. 

“My throat is okay. You worry too much.”

“Good, I’m glad.” Soonyoung caressed the omegas' lips with his thumb and Jihoon kissed it gently. 

“Let me get up so I can clean you off,” the alpha told the other, but Jihoon only shook his head and got off of Soonyoung’s lap with shaky legs. 

“I can clean up myself. Can you maybe lent me some clothes so I can stay over?” A pang of disappointment went through Soonyoung. He should have known that the other wouldn’t take his help like any other omega would have done in this situation. He felt like arguing with Jihoon about it, but he knew the other wouldn’t understand his feelings. He would most probably tell him that he was behaving like a stupid alpha, but in the end that was exactly what Soonyoung was. Just another stupid alpha like everybody else. 

Soonyoung liked Jihoon for who he was, that’s why he wouldn’t try to change him or make him feel uncomfortable. He shrugged his own uneasiness off and answered Jihoon. “I’ll search for some clothes you can sleep in and lay them on the side table next to the bathroom. In the cupboard inside the bathroom are fresh towels if you want to take a shower.” Soonyoung got up from the couch to go first to the kitchen and clean his hands before he would go to his bedroom to fetch some clothes, but Jihoon suddenly grabbed his shirt. 

“Thanks for letting me stay over this time.” Soonyoung swallowed thickly at Jihoon’s words. 

“I’ll give you everything you want.” The omega gave him a small smile and hurried off to the bathroom. Soonyoung hadn’t been lying. At this point he was ready to offer Jihoon anything. Jihoon had mended his broken heart and now the omega might as well keep it forever.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung had stumbled through his flat with the most unpleasant boner he had ever experienced. He tried to get his mind off what happened to will his erection away, but he needed a lot longer than anticipated. When he had calmed down again and put the clothes for Jihoon beside the bathroom, he changed his own clothes and lay down on the bed.

When Jihoon came into the bedroom, he was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants from Soonyoung that were obviously too big for his small frame. Soonyoung wasn’t sure what was nicer, how cute Jihoon looked in the clothes or the fact that the younger one was completely covered in his scent again. 

“I like the clothes. They smell like you.” Soonyoung gripped the sheets tightly trying to push a wave of arousal away. The day, Jihoon would notice how much power he had over him by saying things like that, would be his downfall.

The alpha didn’t comment on Jihoon’s words, but only patted the space beside him on the bed. The other walked fast to the bed and lay down next to Soonyoung, immediately rolling on his side to watch him. All desperation, lust and anger were gone from his features and Soonyoung could only see peacefulness. Even the omegas pheromones were gently swirling in the air leaving behind a soothingly sweet scent. 

“You seem a lot calmer now,” Soonyoung said and rolled on his side too. 

“Yes, I feel fine in the moment.” Soonyoung heard the ‘but’ ringing through Jihoon’s words. They both weren’t sure for how long this state would last, for all they knew, already tomorrow Jihoon could be back to battling his out of control hormones. 

Soonyoung reached out to touch the omegas face, but the smaller one frowned at him and he immediately drew his hand back. “Is something wrong?” Jihoon turned around on his back and looked at the ceiling. 

“While taking a shower, my mind cleared up completely and I started wondering what the hell happened earlier.” Soonyoung couldn’t follow Jihoon’s words and sat up irritatedly. 

“What do you mean?” Jihoon sat up as well and looked back at the alpha. 

“How I behaved earlier…”

Soonyoung had been stupid to not prepare himself for the question. He should have known that Jihoon would be confused by his omega biology. “It’s your omega biology taking over. Normally you should be able to hold it in check outside of your heat, but your hormones are out of control and you haven’t really learned how to handle your biology.”

“It’s strange. I was still me, I remember everything and it feels like everything I did had been me but... The things I said and some things I did weren’t really my choice.” For Soonyoung this behavior was so normal that he didn’t even question it all that much when it happened. It’s the typical behavior of an omega in heat. Some omegas liked to go into this state of mind even outside of their heats because it gave them another kind of satisfaction. Jihoon would be able to control it well later too and Soonyoung wasn’t worrying about that. There was an even deeper problem hidden in this talk. 

“Jihoonie, you are trying to seperate yourself from your omega biology too much. It’s all you in the end. This side of you will always be there, even after your hormones are back to normal.” Jihoon shook his head stubbornly at the alphas' words. 

“No, it’s strange. I’m not like this.” Soonyoung moved closer to Jihoon and gave him a chaste kiss on the forehead. 

“It’s all just new to you. You‘ll learn to accept it one day.” Jihoon still looked frustrated and it made Soonyoung’s heart sink slowly. He had the feeling that everything he did was wrong. Maybe giving into Jihoon had been a mistake after all. 

“Didn’t you like it at all?” Soonyoung asked quietly and Jihoon colored slightly red hearing the question. Soonyoung could easily tell from his scent that it was more out of anger than embarrassment.

“Why would you even ask such a dumb question? If the walls wouldn’t be soundproof, the whole fucking complex would have heard me moan. I think I never ever was this loud, it’s awful.” Soonyoung grabbed the bed sheets with one hand and twisted them around in the hope to find some relief of the sadness and frustration he was experiencing. 

“Why is it awful? For me it was the hottest thing I‘ve heard in my whole life.” 

“You‘re lying. I always hated guys who were overdramatically loud while having sex. It’s just like in cheap porn.” Soonyoung sighed quietly. It didn’t matter what he said, Jihoon just never believed him. 

“I almost couldn’t hold back hearing you like that. I want to make you moan and scream like that again and again. Your voice is so sexy. What more can I say to make you believe me?” Jihoon fidgeted with his fingers and looked down on his lap. 

“Oh... okay. I…” Jihoon licked his lips nervously. “If you don’t want to have sex with me, then you better stop saying things like that. I might understand it wrong.” Soonyoung moved even closer to Jihoon and took the smaller one into his arms. 

“I do want to have sex with you, okay? I just want to take it slow. Now that you’re hopefully satisfied a bit, let’s take it slow at least for a while.” Jihoon hugged him back tightly and Soonyoung finally felt the tension leave him. 

“Yes, okay.” 

They hugged for a while before lying back down on the bed. “You must be tired. Should I turn the lights off?” Jihoon chuckled at Soonyoung’s words. 

“One orgasm doesn’t make me tired, you have to try a lot harder than this to wear me out, but it has been a long day so let’s sleep for now.” Soonyoung was glad that Jihoon was back in a good mood and they didn’t go to sleep frustrated and angry. 

“Don’t worry Jihoonie. One day I’m gonna wear you out so much that you won’t be able to move anymore.” Jihoon rolled around again and gave Soonyoung a sly smirk. 

“I’m counting on it.” 

Soonyoung chuckled and turned the lights off. “Sleep well, Jihoonie.” 

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung felt close to a nervous breakdown. Why was it so difficult for him to make simple eggs? The alpha had rolled very early out of bed and left a sleeping Jihoon behind to buy some things at the convenience store for breakfast. He was a bad cook and normally bought breakfast on the way to work, but today he wanted to offer Jihoon something after staying over. It might have been a very stupid idea though, the mess in front of him was looking awful.

“What are you doing?” Jihoon was standing in the door of the kitchen and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with one hand. He looked adorable and Soonyoung wanted to walk over to him to give him a hug, but the scrambled eggs in front of him needed his full attention right now. 

“Breakfast. Or something similar to it. I’m a bad cook.” Jihoon laughed loudly and sat down on one of the bar chairs. “Awesome, I’m a bad cook too. I guess it will be mostly delivery services for us.”

Soonyoung smiled and turned the stove off. “Yeah, I can only cook one meal well.” Jihoon shook his head in amusement and pointed at the coffee that was ready in the coffee machine. Soonyoung got a cup for him and poured some of the black liquid inside. 

“Same for me, I can only cook one meal well too,” Jihoon said and grabbed the cup Soonyoung handed him. He took a sip and both of them suddenly said at the same time “Kimchi fried rice”. They looked taken aback for a moment before laughing loudly. 

“This is horrible. Why can’t we at least cook different meals well?”

Soonyoung put the eggs on a plate and brought it over to Jihoon. “I don’t know if it’s edible. If not, I also bought sandwiches, rice, ramen and other stuff. I didn’t know what you want to eat in the morning. When we went to work together, you always bought this one type of sandwiches. They didn’t have it in store, so I bought similar ones, but I just didn’t know...” Jihoon looked strangely close to crying, but Soonyoung was sure he was only imagining it. 

The omega tried a bit of the egg and chewed for a moment. “It’s edible. Almost good. You can give me a sandwich too, it would be a waste to not eat more.” Soonyoung happily got everything he bought out of the shopping bags and put it on the table. Both of them had a quiet breakfast while doing some small talk. Soonyoung never smelled any distress on Jihoon. He hoped it would last for a while.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung and Jihoon arrived shortly before 8AM at work and the alpha left immediately for his office to make a call. Yesterday, Min Jaeho’s lawyer had said he could be questioned today. He needed to make sure he stayed true to his word. One call later and he had the confirmation for the interrogation in two hours. He needed to kill some time until then and decided to have a look at what his team was doing.

The alpha walked down the corridor and stopped in the door of the open plan office. His four team members were discussing something animatedly and a smile creeped upon his face when he saw Jihoon hitting Seokmin with a folder. Jihoon’s pheromones were still stable and it was good to see the younger one that relaxed again. Before Soonyoung could even take one step into the office, Jihoon turned around to look at him. He moved his head to the side a few times like gesturing him to come over and join them. Wonwoo now turned his head around too and looked interestedly at the exchange. Soonyoung finally stepped into the office and stopped right beside Jihoon.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Jihoon shrugged and leaned back in his chair. 

“Writing the report. What else should we do?” Soonyoung hummed lowley and sat down on the omegas table. The other members of his team were looking strangely at him and he couldn’t help feeling bothered by it. 

“Is something wrong? Why are you looking like this?” Wonwoo chuckled at the question. 

“I guess, we all expected something greater from you two. It’s the first time for us seeing you two together after you started dating.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes in annoyance. “What did you expect? Kissing? Cheesy romantic exchanges? Sex on the office table?” 

Soonyoung loudly cleared his throat. Maybe it would be better to change the topic. “The questioning of Min Jaeho will be at 10AM. I just came over to kill some time.”

“Did you think about questions already?” Seokmin asked in a light voice, but Soonyoung had the feeling that the younger officer actually wanted to say something else. 

“Jihoon already told me his motive. There isn’t a lot left that I want to know. I just want to hear his confession - not that it makes any difference at this point. He’ll be in jail all his life with the evidence we have.” Seokmin still had a thoughtful expression on his face after hearing Soonyoung’s answer. 

“What is it you really want to say, Seokmin?”

“Isn’t it a bit odd Min Jaeho went directly after Jihoon? He must have known the possibility of getting caught is much higher this way.” Soonyoung had thought about that before too. It was indeed a bit odd. Even with the best laid out plan, he must have known that it was dangerous to go after a police officer. 

Before Soonyoung could finish sorting his thoughts, Jihoon already spoke up. “Revenge must have clouded his mind. He just wanted to punish Soonyoung.” That seemed to be the most logical reasoning. Somewhere along the way, Min Jaeho must have lost his initial impulse to kill and went on a road of revenge, distorting his reality so far that he could see Jihoon as a potential victim. Soonyoung would ask the killer later about it, though he wasn’t sure if Min Jaeho would give him a clear answer.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Min Jaeho and his lawyer were already sitting at the table of the interrogation room when Soonyoung walked through the door. He said a short ‘good morning’ and sat down on the chair opposite of the killer. There was a thick bandage around the killer’s throat and instead of feeling guilty, it gave Soonyoung satisfaction. Killing the man would have been horrible for him, but hurting him was completely fine. He had murdered four persons and attempted to kill Jihoon. Soonyoung would never regret hurting such a man. Also he would never forgive him.

“I’m here to listen to your confession.” Min Jaeho chuckled darkly at the profiler's words. 

“You probably have enough evidence to keep me in jail all my life without a confession. I’m not in the mood to tell you the story of my life.” Soonyoung wasn’t surprised that the killer was playing games until the very end. He probably wouldn’t get a single useful word for the protocol out of him. There was just one thing he might react to and maybe that was the only thing Soonyoung really wanted to know. 

“Why didn’t you kill me after you locked Jihoon and me inside the barn?”

“Completely theoretically speaking, if I would have locked you in somewhere, I would have probably enjoyed watching you suffer, seeing how you couldn’t do anything to escape.” Soonyoung had been right. The killer was still hung up on him and his revenge. He couldn’t resist the temptation to talk about this topic. 

“And why did you go after Jihoon? You could have gone into hiding and kept on murdering like you did before.” Min Jaeho was quiet for a moment before answering. 

“I wanted to see the pretty officer bleeding dry.” Soonyoung felt anger flaring up in him. He shouldn’t let the killer agitate him like that, but he couldn’t help it when Jihoon was involved. “You think you are so much better than me, don’t you? But you are a nobody who can’t even make an omega happy. You cannot give him anything officer Kwon.” Soonyoung had heard enough. This talk was leading to nothing.

Soonyoung stood up and walked over to the door. On the way there, Min Jaeho started talking again. “Enjoy the happiness with your pretty omega for as long as it lasts. Because no happiness will last forever. This is a promise.” Soonyoung got an ominous feeling hearing the killer's words. He could only hope that this foretelling wouldn’t come true.

Soonyoung looked at the killer for a final time. Hopefully he would never have to see this man again. The profiler finally turned around and walked with strong steps out of the interrogation room to go and meet up with his team. He felt the dire need to see Jihoon right now.

The case was closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) So finally the smut tag is there for a reason (it’s only a little smut scene though). I haven’t written any smut for such a long time that it was almost awkward lol. But I’m not worried too much about future smut scenes. It will be most probably easier than writing the heavy angst. Or fluff LOL.
> 
> This chapter takes a kind of strange turn at the end, but we also needed a closure with Min Jaeho. I want to say ‘Don’t read too much into his words’, but then of course I can’t really deny the fact that his words have some significance. So think what you like :D  
Jihoon and Soonyoung’s relationship on the other hand also takes a turn and it’s probably quite difficult to predict where it will lead us exactly. I can’t really talk about it, so I would like to talk about something else at this point. I think most readers are rooting heavily for Jihoon and it makes me feel bad for Soonyoung T_T I personally have very big sympathy for him because I couldn’t even imagine EVER agreeing to date someone who painfully rejected me years ago. And now the whole situation with Jihoon’s hormones being out of control… Soonyoung lived his whole life as alpha and he’s affected by his biology very strongly. There are certain needs and beliefs that come with it and he had to completely push them aside for Jihoon’s happiness. While writing the beginning of this chapter I felt actually really emotional because it pains me a lot putting him through all of that. I also feel bad for Jihoon, don’t get me wrong, but since everyone feels bad for Jihoon, at least I should be the one to feel also bad for Soonyoung… it might be strange that I’m talking about my characters like they are real people xD I think I’m spending too much time with this story lol.
> 
> One more thing I wanted to talk about since forever about is the meaning of the title. I really wanted a title related to the police and code red popped up in my mind after thinking for a while and I immediately liked it. Code red first of all means of course an emergency at the police (or hospital etc). For me personally as title of this story, it has more meanings than that. I see the color red also in it’s metaphorical meaning , which not only stands for danger, but also for love and passion. So you would have a Code Love, which relates to the love story, but you can also apply the code red to an emergency or to troubles in love instead of an emergency at the police. I like to believe that in whatever direction you bend the meaning, it’s all nice for the story. Did someone just say I’m obsessed with my titles? Hahaha, yeah I am most probably. It was the same with Mask Kingdom and it will be the same with the title of my next long work, which I already have :D Nice titles are very important for a story, especially when you spend a lot of time with it… Excuse me for my rant!!
> 
> Now I’ll shut up. Next update will be most probably on Saturday again. For sure not on Tuesday because I really can’t update two times every week. I’ll get a burn out then soon lol. Thank you for reading and writing very nice comments even though I’m a very annoying complainer most of the time. You are the best! Also thank you for 1000 kudos!! It’s always said that if you like a story, you press kudo and if you love it, you bookmark it. I’m really happy that 1000 people considered my story likable enough to press kudo. Thank you so much <3  
Also one more thing that I already heard so often while writing CR is “I’ll read it when it’s finished”. But probably no one wants to read this freaking story when it ends with 200k words or something like this, even less someone will ever comment on it afterwards. So this is even more reason for me to say THANK YOU for being on this very long journey with me T_T <3
> 
> See you soon :D
> 
> If you’re interested in my writing process, you can add me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel). And if you have questions or things you can’t write here, you can write me on [curious cat ](https://curiouscat.me/just_a_pinwheel).


	29. This Mess

“What’s the problem between you and Soonyoung?” Jihoon picked with the chopsticks at the food in front of him. It was noon and he was with Wonwoo in a small restaurant for lunch, but he didn’t feel like eating. He felt slightly restless, but wasn’t sure why. He sincerely hoped his hormones weren’t the cause of it. 

Jihoon looked at the food in front of him and then back at Wonwoo searching for an answer to the other’s question. It felt like forever since they had sat together and simply talked to each other. The last time, Wonwoo had told him to confess his feelings to Soonyoung and so much had happened since then. He got his heart broken, got almost killed, ended up together with Soonyoung and finally went crazy because of his stupid hormones. Wonwoo probably knew most of the things that have happened, but nothing in detail. A break of 30 minutes wouldn’t be enough to explain everything. When his hormones were back to normal, they had to go drinking with all of their friends again. At that time, he would explain everything in detail. He really had been a horrible friend lately. He had been so preoccupied with himself that he hadn’t talked to some of his friends at all. He really missed being together with all of them. But right now, their easygoing evenings, seemed like a far away memory. He couldn’t even imagine going out to have fun in the moment. Going to work was already straining enough because he was constantly worried his hormones would go out of control again.

“How do you know there is a problem? You have barely seen us talk to each other.” Wonwoo rolled his eyes while chewing on some food. 

“Maybe that’s exactly the reason. You just started dating, you should be all over each other.” Jihoon didn’t like it, but Wonwoo was like always right. He hadn’t even thought about it before, but it really seemed like they were unintentionally avoiding each other at work. “Frankly speaking, you seemed to be more head over heels while your feelings were still one sided.” Jihoon swallowed heavily and laid his chopsticks to the side. He finally lost all of his appetite. 

“My hormones are the problem. We went to the doctor and he told us that my body wants to go as fast as possible into heat. In reaction to that, I’m constantly craving sex with Soonyoung.”

Wonwoo bit his lip in concentration before laying down his chopsticks as well. “I guess, Soonyoung is not happy about the situation?” It unnerved Jihoon that Wonwoo easily understood what was going on. He was a beta and shouldn’t be able to know what the problem between them was. Jihoon barely understood it himself. 

“How can you tell? You’re a beta.” Wonwoo shrugged and took a sip of water before talking again. 

“It’s common knowledge that alphas and omegas have a long courting phase. It must be distressing for Soonyoung.”

“Do you think it’s fun to me? You don’t know how it is when you’re body and mind tries to force you into sex. It’s so difficult to suppress it. It almost drives me insane.” Wonwoo nodded his head, but he looked strangely not convinced. 

“How are you holding on so well then right now?” 

Jihoon sighed dramatically and leaned back in his seat. “He got me off yesterday and I’m feeling better right now. I don’t know when it will start again though.”

“So Soonyoung gave in that fast?” Jihoon frowned at his friend. He didn’t understand where this conversation was heading. 

“Yes, so what?” Wonwoo’s phone on the table was lightening up and he picked it up to look at the message. Without answering he laid it back down. 

“I’m just surprised an alpha would give up on all his principles that fast. He must really like you.”

“I was in pain, Wonwoo. Physical pain. It was the right thing to do.” Wonwoo looked at him skeptically and Jihoon was close to getting really angry. 

“I’m certainly not the right person to talk to about this problem, but have you at least really considered Soonyoung’s feelings as an alpha? He gave up on his beliefs for you, skipping the whole courting phase. Have you let him… I don’t know, have you let him take care of you as omega? He probably needs some reassurance too.” Jihoon immediately remembered what had happened the day before. 

When Soonyoung had told him to get up from the couch so he could clean him up, a strange contentment had settled in the pit of his stomach and Jihoon had shoved it away strongly. He didn’t want to listen to his biology that was just messing with his mind the whole time. He didn’t want to get taken care of, he could do that just fine himself. He wanted a boyfriend and not a caretaker.

Hearing Wonwoo’s words now made Jihoon consider if these kind of thoughts had been a bit too harsh. The problem was, he just didn’t want to be like an omega. Even more, he didn’t want to be an omega at all. “We’re doing fine, don’t worry. Soonyoung knows that I’m not a conventional omega.” Wonwoo picked his chopsticks up and started eating once again. It bothered Jihoon that his friend didn’t say anything for a while. 

“If you say so. It’s just an idea, but maybe you should actually talk to Soonyoung about this.”

Wonwoo’s phone lightened up again and this time the beta answered the message with a smile on his lips. It must have been from Mingyu. Jihoon took out his phone from his pocket and looked at the lock screen only to see that he had no messages. His heart tightened slightly, but he shoved the unwelcome feeling away. He shouldn’t be surprised that Soonyoung hadn’t written to him. After all, it had been Jihoon who had decided to go eating with Wonwoo in their break. Soonyoung didn’t even have a reason to write to him, feeling disappointed was completely out of place. His omega mind must be messing with him again

He was behaving ridiculous.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Later in the afternoon, Jihoon felt the desire slowly crawling under his skin again. It wasn’t by far as strong as it had been the day before, the feeling made him only slightly fidgety. But when it was time to go home, he was already a bit on the edge. He wasn’t close to going crazy, but the constant pull on his mind was tiring and made him aggressive. He just wanted to go home and lay down, maybe watch a movie or take a bath. Anything that might be able to help him relax him somehow.

When it was time to leave finally, Jihoon was still so busy with writing the report that he didn’t even look at the clock. He was quite surprised when his team members started leaving one after the other. Jihoon was in the middle of typing an important passage, so he just kept on writing. When he was at a good point to finish for the day, he finally closed his laptop and noticed Soonyoung coming into the office. He had a relaxed smile on his lips and strangely enough it made Jihoon angry. 

“Ready to go home?” Jihoon merely nodded his head and started putting his things away. 

“I actually wanted to ask if you would like to go on a date with me on the weekend.” Jihoon ripped his head around and gave Soonyoung a cold glare. 

“I don’t want to go on a date!” The words had slipped out of Jihoon’s mouth already before he could stop himself. He saw in Soonyoung’s eyes how badly hurt he was by his words. The omega immediately got up from his seat and gave Soonyoung an apologetical look. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like this. I want to go on a date, but not right now. I don’t feel comfortable with going outside when I don’t have my pheromones under control.”

Soonyoung looked confused at him. “But I would take care of you.” Jihoon felt the contentment burning deep in his gut and it irritated him even more. His omega biology was trying to gain the upper hand again and again and he had no way to stop it. The anger inside of him started burning even brighter and he lost his temper completely. 

“I don’t want you to take care of me! I can take care of myself. I just don’t feel comfortable with it right now, okay?” Jihoon snapped angrily at Soonyoung and the alpha took two steps backwards averting his eyes. It was a strange behavior for an alpha. 

“Yes, I understand. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pressured you.”

Soonyoung turned around and walked away without saying another word. It finally dawned upon Jihoon how utterly mean he had behaved towards Soonyoung and ran in a hurry after the alpha. He took his hand and intertwined their fingers. “Wait Soon, I’m sorry. Let’s just go home and watch a movie together, okay? Don’t be angry with me please. I’m just out of my mind right now. I have been restless for half of the day.” 

Soonyoung looked like he wanted to say something back immediately, but instead leaned down and gave Jihoon a chaste kiss on the forehead. “I know, Jihoonie. I’m not angry with you.” Even though the alpha smiled at him it didn’t reach his eyes. Jihoon considered asking if he really meant it, but decided against it. Soonyoung knew that he was in a difficult phase. Jihoon just needed to go into heat once and everything would be alright again. Only his hormones were being to blame for this mess.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The mood between Jihoon and Soonyoung had been strange since their conversation earlier. They did some awkward small talk and now Jihoon was sitting in Soonyoung’s kitchen watching the other clean out the dishwasher. They had ordered Chinese food a couple of minutes ago and had nothing to do or talk about in the meantime, so Soonyoung must have thought it’s a good idea to busy himself with cleaning silently. Jihoon didn’t take his eyes off the older all the while. He was trying to come up with something to lighten up the mood, but it wasn’t really his forte. They would have never been in such a situation back at university when Soonyoung was still his loud and bubbly self. At times like these, Jihoon really missed that side of Soonyoung.

These thoughts brought Jihoon back to the day he had harshly rejected the other. What would have happened if he had accepted the alphas advances at that time? Jihoon was pretty sure that they would have ended up in bed the same evening. Both being drunk and Soonyoung being head over heels for him at that time. Soonyoung still had been so different then, more impulsive and more open. They would have probably fucked for hours. It was a funny thought because Jihoon wanted exactly that right now, but Soonyoung was stubbornly refusing him his wish. For sure the situation was a very different one now and he understood Soonyoung’s sentiment, but still it was difficult for Jihoon to cope with it. Everything between them was a tangled up mess and neither of them seemed to be able to entangle it.

Soonyoung finished cleaning and walked over to the omega sitting on one of the chairs. “You look like you are in deep thought. What’s going on in your head?” Jihoon considered brushing Soonyoung’s question off, but in the end felt like he should actually speak up his mind. Wonwoo was at least in that aspect right. They really didn’t talk enough, but it’s also not all that easy at the beginning of a relationship. Being open with each other was so important, but at the same time speaking everything that was on your mind is scary. The fear to say something wrong was constantly there. Jihoon was sure Soonyoung felt the same way, but that didn’t make things any easier.

“I thought about our time at university,” Jihoon said quietly. 

“What about it?” The omega hung his head low not wanting to look at the other. 

“I regret rejecting you at that time. Everything would be different right now if I didn’t reject you. Especially you would be different.” When Jihoon looked up again, Soonyoung seemed to be taken aback. 

“Would you like me more if I would be different?” Jihoon immediately got off his seat hearing the question and hugged Soonyoung tightly. 

“No, shit, I didn’t mean it like that. Sorry.”

Soonyoung didn’t say anything, but hugged the younger one just as tightly. “Are you still angry because of what happened earlier? You seem a bit off.” Soonyoung gently laid his head against Jihoon’s sighting quietly. 

“I’m not angry. What happened earlier… it’s difficult for me to follow your thoughts. I’m trying my best, but you always seem to understand me wrong.” Jihoon heard Wonwoo in his head again, asking him if he actually considered Soonyoung’s feeling as an alpha. No, he never had and it was just so difficult for him, when he didn’t even like his omega biology. He didn’t know how to find a middle ground, so they could feel both at peace.

“I’m sorry for making you feel bad.” Soonyoung pulled away and looked at him with a strange sentiment in his eyes. 

“I would like it more if you say thank you instead of sorry all the time.” Jihoon went over the words in his head a couple of times, but he couldn’t really get what the other intended to tell him.

The bell was suddenly ringing loudly and saved Jihoon from giving Soonyoung an answer. He would think later again about the meaning of Soonyoung’s words.

They ate quietly while sitting on the couch watching a random movie on TV. After they finished the food and cleared away the trash, Jihoon watched the movie for a while but started shifting around nervously on the couch then. He kept on stealing glances at the alpha in hope the other would notice, but he never said anything. So close to Soonyoung, it was getting more difficult to hold himself in check. It wasn’t to the point of craving sex, but he wanted the other to do _something_. A kiss would be nice. No, there was something even better.

“Can you scent me?” 

Soonyoung turned his head in surprise around at the question. “Again? I just scented you two days ago. I can still smell it slightly on you.” Jihoon gnawd on his lip. He knew that too, but it was so faint that it didn’t give him any peace of mind. 

“I’m feeling kind of uncomfortable and fidgety. I think it would help me calm me down.” Soonyoung blinked a few times, but smiled then warmly at him. 

“Okay, if it helps you.”

Soonyoung scented him a lot less intensively than he had done the last time. Jihoon wasn’t sure why. Maybe because the alpha thought it was unnecessary when his scent was still lingering on him. Nevertheless Jihoon felt a lot better when he strongly smelled Soonyoung’s pheromones on him again. The nervousness had died down and he didn’t feel the need to fidget with his fingers or wriggle around helplessly on the couch anymore.

Soonyoung patted his head and smiled gently at him. He knew Soonyoung was understanding him. Wonwoo was wrong, they didn’t have any problems. Everything between them was going just fine. “Thank you, Soon. I know, I’m not easy right now. My feelings are all over the place.” The alphas eyes lightened up hearing the words and Jihoon felt like everything would work out now. They were strong and would get through this together. 

“I love you,” he told the older sincerely and Soonyoung suddenly pushed him down, so the smaller one was lying with his back on the couch. The alpha kissed him deeply, not letting him breathe for a while. There were so much pent up emotions in the kiss, so much desperation that Jihoon completely lost himself in the feeling. Jihoon felt his heart beating in a strange rhythm and he was sure it must be the same rhythm Soonyoung’s heart was beating in.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Jihoon woke up in Soonyoung’s bed, it was already dawn. He turned around to look at the alpha who was lying beside him in bed. Seeing Soonyoung so close to him, smelling his pheromones so strongly because they were clinging to everything in the room, lit up a strange fire in him that knocked the air out of his lungs. He started panting slightly, his whole body turning into a hot mess. The desire running through his body electrified him, he could feel it to the tips of his fingers. The need to touch Soonyoung was overwhelming.

Jihoon tried to fight the powerful arousal for a moment, but it was useless. He rolled even closer to Soonyoung and inhaled his scent deeply. The mix of coffee and mint was intoxicating and Jihoon slowly felt his mind drifting away. The only thing left was the strong need to touch and be touched.

The omega slowly pushed the blanket from Soonyoung’s body and got on top of him. He grinded down on the alphas crotch slightly while licking and kissing down his throat, but it wasn’t enough. He needed more than this.

Jihoon felt one strong hand suddenly caressing the small of his back and he let out a content noise at the feeling. “Jihoonie, what are you doing so early in the morning?” The omega tried to focus his thoughts on the question, but only managed to do so after stopping all his movements and looking Soonyoung straight into the eyes. 

“I need you.” Soonyoung suddenly pulled him down in an embrace, but Jihoon stubbornly wiggled out of it immediately. “I need it. Please let me. Please.”

Jihoon’s mouth was dry and his breathing still unsteady. His shaking fingers were running down the t-shirt Soonyoung was wearing until they reached the alphas underwear. “Let me pleasure you.” Soonyoung’s pupils blew wide hearing the omegas request and his scent notably intensified. Jihoon let out a quiet moan. Feeling and seeing Soonyoung’s arousal was extremely satisfying.

Soonyoung reached for Jihoon’s face and caressed his lips gently. “Didn’t we want to go slower?” Jihoon let out a whine and got off of Soonyoung and instead placed himself in between the alphas legs. 

“No sex, I promise. Just let me touch your cock.” Soonyoung growled lowly and Jihoon felt the immediate need to bare his neck to him. His whole body was shaking and tears were welling up in his eyes. The need was almost too much to handle. Soonyoung either noticed that or simply couldn’t resist Jihoon’s alluring scent because for once he didn’t discuss with him. His eyes just turned slightly glassy and he leaned his head a bit to the side.

“Go on then, Jihoonie.” As soon as the words left Soonyoung’s lips, Jihoon’s hands grabbed the alphas underwear and pulled it down. Soonyoung’s cock sprang free laying half hard and heavy on his belly and Jihoon unconsciously licked his lips. 

“You’re so fucking big. What the hell...” Jihoon felt excitement running through him while thinking about having that cock deep inside of his ass. He wasn’t even sure if all of it would fit. It wasn’t only much longer than a beta’s but also a lot thicker. 

“Alphas are different from betas, Jihoonie,” Soonyoung said, almost reading the younger one’s mind.

Jihoon reached out and gently touched the head of Soonyoung’s cock. He let two of his fingers glide down to the base where he could see a slight swell. The knot would form there. Jihoon’s heart began beating wildly at the thought of getting knotted by Soonyoung. He didn’t even know how it would feel like but his body told him that he wanted it, needed it.

But even in his clouded mind he knew that Soonyoung wouldn’t knot him today so he went for the second best option. Jihoon leaned down and licked along Soonyoung’s thick cock trailing the prominent vein with his tongue. He kept on licking and kissing the alphas dick until he couldn’t contain the urge to have his mouth filled anymore. Jihoon tongued at the slit before finally taking the fat head of Soonyoung’s cock into his mouth. His lips were immediately stretched wide and it left him feeling frustrated. He probably couldn’t even swallow half of Soonyoung’s dick and Jihoon was normally proud of being very good at giving head.

Jihoon stared at Soonyoung while slowly taking more of the big cock into his mouth until it nudged at the back of his throat. The stretch was harsh and he felt tears pricking at his eyes, but still he loved the feeling of the heavy hardness pulsating in his mouth. “Jihoonie, you don’t have to try so hard. It’s… it’s too much for you. You’re mouth is so small, don’t hurt yourself.” Soonyoung’s words left the omega frustrated and he relaxed his throat going even further down on the thick shaft. Jihoon saw how the alpha was grabbing the sheets tightly, but otherwise he controlled himself well and it made Jihoon just more desperate.

He grabbed the base of Soonyoung’s cock and stroked the part where the knot was forming gently while slowly starting to move his head around the alphas dick. Finally Soonyoung let out a low moan and Jihoon felt some of the desperation melting away, but he still wasn’t satisfied with the alphas lack of participation.

Jihoon let the cock go with a pop and looked at Soonyoung with a heated gaze. “Why are you holding back?” He crooked out, voice already slightly raspy. Soonyoung just licked his lips, pupils still blown wide while watching the omega. 

“I’m afraid if I start, that I won’t be able to hold back at all anymore.”

“Maybe I don’t want you to hold back.” Soonyoung narrowed his eyes at Jihoon’s words. 

“You’re already at your limit, Jihoonie. It will be too much if I fuck your mouth, you won’t be able to talk normally for days.” Jihoon moaned involuntarily at the thought. The omega inside of him keened at the idea of everyone noticing what they did. 

Jihoon didn’t say another word and went back to sucking Soonyoung off. He bobbed his head faster than before and swallowed around the alphas length whenever it hit the back of his throat. A strained moan left Soonyoung’s lips and Jihoon felt the dick throbbing in his mouth. Jihoon got so aroused that his hole started leaking slick, clenching on nothing. He wanted Soonyoung to finally take him. He wanted that big cock inside of him splitting him open and filling him up. A moan slipped out of his cock filled mouth at the thought making Soonyoung threw his head back in pleasure.

„You’re doing amazing Jihoonie. You... ahh _fuck_. Why are you so good at this? You’re taking me so far down your throat.“ Soonyoung’s praise and grunts and hisses of pleasure weren‘t enough for Jihoon. The longer it took, the more desperate he became for the other to come. His eyes met Soonyoung’s again and there was something carnal in his gaze. Jihoon felt for a moment like the prey of a predator. Still, the alpha didn’t lose control. Jihoon tried so hard, but Soonyoung kept himself completely in check. Jihoon was getting more and more frustrated. He bobbed his head harder and jerked him off faster. It drove tears to Jihoon’s eyes because his throat was already feeling very raw. Soonyoung had been right, he wouldn’t have been able to take more, but his pride pushed that thought out of his mind very fast.

“Jihoonie, pull off. I’m very close and you can’t swallow.” The words made Jihoon tear up even more. He needed to swallow. He would go insane if the alpha refused him that. If he didn’t get sex, he would at least need this.

Jihoon stubbornly took Soonyoung even deeper into his mouth and swallowed around the length. “Jihoonie, you’ll choke on it. Fuck.” Soonyoung’s hips stuttered slightly and he finally shoot his load down Jihoon’s throat. It was so much cum that Jihoon had trouble swallowing it. The omega choked slightly and a whole lot of the cum flowed out of his mouth and down his chin and throat.

“Come on pull off, honey. I’m still not finished.” Soonyoung tried to gently push Jihoon’s head away, but he kept his mouth tightly shut around the length when the second wave of cum spurted off Soonyoung’s cock. This time he really choked and Soonyoung sat up slightly and hastily pushed Jihoon’s head away, a big amount of cum splattering his face and some running down Soonyoung’s length. 

Jihoon breathed harshly in and out, his eyes unfocused. There was so much cum everywhere and the only thing he could think off was that he needed it. All of it. He leaned back to Soonyoung’s cock and slowly licked the soft shaft clean. Soonyoung hissed at the omegas gentle ministrations, his head falling back with a loud thud onto the cushion. When Jihoon looked at the alpha, his eyes were pitch black and it threw Jihoon even further down the lane of desire, his mind completely hazy at this point not able to control what he did anymore. “Don’t leave anything behind, Jihoonie. You need it, right?” Jihoon shook at Soonyoung’s words. He was right, he needed it. There was no other thought than this left in his mind.

When Jihoon had licked up every last drop of cum off Soonyoung, he sat slowly up. The omegas eyes were dazed and his brain still fuzzy. It all wasn’t enough. His mind and body were in a frenzy to have even more of Soonyoung’s cum. Just swallowing wasn’t enough, he needed it deeper inside.

Jihoon pulled his own underwear off and took two of his fingers and coated them in the cum that was sticking to his face. Without a second thought he hastily put them into his puckered hole. The moan that left his throat was high and strained. He desperately moved his fingers inside of him trying to shove the cum even deeper. Squelching sounds started filling the room because of all the slick he was producing. The wet noises were mixing with little moans and whines that were constantly slipping out of Jihoon’s pink lips. The omega had his head thrown back and his eyes closed in pleasure and neither really heard all the dirty noises nor did he see Soonyoung crawling over to him. He only felt the other when he was gripping his hip softly. 

“Sorry, Jihoonie. I didn’t know how much you need this. Come on, let me help you.” Jihoon forced his eyes open and watched the alpha coating his own fingers in cum that was stuck on his throat. Jihoon pulled his fingers out and waited until Soonyoung’s longer and thicker ones were starting to penetrate him and stroke gently his insides. “Hmm, ah ah...” Lewd sounds were leaving Jihoon’s mouth at the feeling of Soonyoung’s fingers deep inside of him. This was the best Jihoon had felt in a long time. His body was relaxed and his mind was at peace. Soonyoung was stroking his prostate continuously and it was just _so good_.

Soonyoung kept on pushing cum into him again and again until almost nothing was left sticking on Jihoon’s skin. Jihoon had come twice in the meanwhile, only quiet mewls leaving his mouth now. He felt completely blissed out. Soonyoung finally pulled his fingers out and kissed Jihoon softly on the lips. He pulled the smaller one into a hug and waited until his breathing had evened out, all the while stroking gently his hair. Jihoon’s mind was still blank and his body lax in the hold of the alpha. “I’ll get something to clean you up. Wait a second.” Soonyoung helped Jihoon lie down and got hastily up from the bed, putting his underwear on in the process.

Soonyoung was back fast and cleaned the omega thoroughly and laid him then back on the bed. Jihoon was still too out of his mind to protest this time. Soonyoung got up from the bed again and washed up quickly in the bathroom. When the alpha came back to bed, Jihoon had a strange faraway expression on his face. Soonyoung laid beside him, but the smaller one just rolled to his side facing away from Soonyoung. His mind had finally cleared up and he couldn’t believe what he had just done. To him, It was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened in his life.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed about this, Jihoonie.” Jihoon hated how Soonyoung picked up what he was feeling on his scent. He already felt ashamed enough as it was, he didn’t want Soonyoung to know about it. Jihoon couldn’t cope with the things that had just happened. He had been totally out of control and what he had done clearly wasn’t normal behavior. He behaved like an animal that had nothing else than breeding in mind.

“Jihoonie, what you just did really isn’t embarrassing. You can’t help it because your hormones are out of control and your body tells you that it needs my sperm. Your body just wants to go into heat and it knows that this is the fastest way.” Soonyoung’s words didn’t make the situation better. Jihoon really didn’t want to hear this right now. He just wanted to find a hole to hide in and never come out again.

“Also, you shouldn’t forget that I’m an alpha. Do you know how much I got off on this? It was like my wildest dreams come true. There is no way I can’t enjoy seeing you wanting my cum that much. So if you feel embarrassed about the situation then maybe I need to start feeling embarrassed about it too.” Jihoon felt finally a bit calmer hearing Soonyoung’s words. The shame wasn’t completely gone but at least he didn’t feel like hanging himself anymore. Still, a bad aftertaste lingered. Things couldn’t go on like this. This mess needed to stop right now.

Jihoon turned around again and looked at the alpha. “Soon, I want this to be over. I can barely concentrate on my job anymore. I’m aggressive and unlikable. I do things I can’t control and I hate it. I want to be myself again. Make it stop, please.” Soonyoung seemed to be considering the words of Jihoon deeply. His eyebrows knitted together in concentration and he slightly bit on his lip. 

“If you want it to stop then you must go into heat. That means we need to have sex and it’s too early for that in our relationship. You can’t even comprehend what happened today even though it’s totally fine.” Jihoon frowned at Soonyoung. What happened today wasn’t totally fine, it was his omega mind taking over because his hormones were out of control. He didn’t know what to answer without agitating Soonyoung, so he just kept quiet.

“Also Jihoonie, you were never together with an alpha. I can barely hold back as it is, I wouldn’t be able to do it then anymore. I don’t want to hurt you.” Jihoon chuckled darkly. That was the least of his problems. 

“Even if I don’t like it, I’m an omega, my body is made for this.” Soonyoung swallowed audibly at Jihoon’s words. 

“It’s not that easy Jihoonie. You are very much able to feel pain outside of your heat. We need to prepare well and you need to trust me completely.” Jihoon wanted to laugh at Soonyoung’s words. He trusted the alpha already completely. If he didn’t trust someone, then it would be himself. His omega mind and body kept on fucking up. 

“I trust you. We know each other already for years…” 

“But you hated me for years.” Jihoon felt a slight anger flaring up and he didn’t know if it came from Soonyoung interrupting him or from being reminded once again that he behaved like an idiot for many years. 

“That was stupid. I was an idiot, Soon. I know this is all too short between us, but I really do trust you. When we were locked in, you were the one who kept me sane. You cared for me and you still do every moment we are together. Even now when you tell me that it’s too early to have sex. That’s why I trust you.” Soonyoung’s eyes had turned soft while listening to Jihoon talk. The omega felt his heart fluttering slightly at the sight.

“Okay, Jihoonie. If it’s what you want then I’ll get you into heat. But I need to tell you again that I won’t be able to hold back the first time. I’ll try, but I probably end up taking you really aggressively. I really don’t want to hurt you.” Jihoon gave Soonyoung a lazy smile and placed a hand on the alphas arm. 

“I won’t break. Don’t worry.” Soonyoung sighed hearing Jihoon’s answer and gave him a weak smile.

“Should we get slowly ready for work? It’s kind of late.” Jihoon looked at the digital clock on the bedside table and saw that it was almost 7AM. They really needed to hurry up now, if they wanted to be at work in time. 

“Yeah, just one more thing…” Soonyoung sat up in bed, waiting for the omega to finish talking. “Can we already do it this evening? If we wait a couple of days, I’ll just go out of control again. I want to be in my right mind when we sleep together. At least for a while.” Jihoon knew he would fall into his omega mind at one point again, but at least for a while he wanted to be together with Soonyoung with a clear mind. 

“I already agreed. If you want to do it this evening then I’m fine with it.”

Jihoon didn’t know what more to say to Soonyoung. The alphas voice sounded slightly off and the whole situation felt wrong at this point, but Jihoon had no way of fixing it. The only thing that would help was going into heat so everything could finally go back to normal. It was only a small step back to normality. 

Jihoon closed his eyes for a moment breathing deeply in and out. He could almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. He was sure that stepping through the light would bring him the happiness and normality he so dearly longed for. 

And then he could finally leave this mess behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) I really had troubles with this chapter, so I needed to take a break for a bit. My writing seemed very flat and uninspired to me. This chapter doesn’t make things better because it’s so insanely difficult to not make Jihoon into a complete asshole. That’s not what I’m aiming at. The problems are a result of living always as beta and now having to deal with hormones that are out of control. It’s pretty complex, but no matter how I think about it and change things around, it always ended up like this. So I gave up on sitting things out and getting new inspiration, but instead revised my first draft I pretty much hated many many times. I think I can live with it now (not that this chapter is even that plot heavy to begin with haha). Having more time to revise a chapter is very helpful. With every revision I get new ideas how to write certain passages better and add more details. The first draft is often just very uninspired because I write it down fast. Writing pretty words in English doesn’t come that easily to me and is actually hard work. And lately I didn’t have the time to revise them enough times. That’s probably why I was unhappy with everything. Now that I took a week off, I’m a bit ahead with my writing, so things should flow better now :D
> 
> So Code Red turned at this point into a pretty dark and messy ordeal. I didn’t even want it to be so dark, but I can’t help it. If it’s too much drama and too complicated for some of you, I can’t blame you for it. For everyone who is still able to bear it… please keep on bearing it for a bit longer D: I can see the light at the end of the tunnel just like Jihoon hehe.
> 
> One slightly depressing thing at this point is that I can’t even write the smut how I want to write it because I have to consider the situation they are in. Yes, they are in love and it’s not forced, but still it’s not completely their own choice and writing alpha-omega-smut is pretty different in general. Therefor I don’t know if the smut is alright to read. Normally I can at least write that well, but yeah… don’t know D: Also for the people who might be not fond of smut… it’s the point of the story where it’s actually important, so there is an unnecessary lot of smut lol. Sorry. I put it in the tags from the start, so it was clear it would turn out like this one day (also I wrote Mask Kingdom… so yeah, you know me lol). Of course it won’t go on forever with smut in every chapter. That would be boring at one point haha. 
> 
> There are some more difficult chapters ahead of me. Please hope for me that I’ll get through them somehow! The next story I’ll write will only have a minimum of drama. I like angst and drama, but after Code Red I need a break from so much drama lol.
> 
> I’ll try to update like always on the next Saturday, but no promises. Though it looks good :D Next chapter will be a pretty long one!
> 
> Thank you for reading and commenting and cheering me on. It really means a lot to me, especially when I’m in such a discontent phase. I’m okay again though! Thank you everyone <3
> 
> See you soon <3
> 
> If you’re interested in my writing process, you can add me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel). And if you have questions or things you can’t write here, you can write me on [curious cat ](https://curiouscat.me/just_a_pinwheel).


	30. Trust Is What You Need

Jihoon felt restless. This time it wasn’t because of his hormones, they seemed to be under control. He was nervous because he had planned to have sex with Soonyoung in the evening and he knew next to nothing about sleeping with an alpha. He considered reading up on it on the internet, but deemed that not very reliable. The best would be to talk with someone who went through all of this already and there was only one person he could think of whom he trusted enough to not sugarcoat anything.

Jihoon got up from his seat and walked to Jeonghan’s and Seungkwan’s office. To Jihoon’s dismay, Jeonghan was nowhere to be found. Only Seungkwan was sitting at his desk reading through a colorful magazine.

“What is that Seungkwan?” The secretary turned around and gave Jihoon a big smile. 

“Good morning hyung! A magazine about dates.” Jihoon made a disgusted face. 

“Something like that exists? Why would you buy that?” Seungkwan looked slightly offended at the other omega. 

“Since you finished your case, I can finally go with Vernon on the date he promised me. I’m trying to get inspiration for that.” It was strange to Jihoon that someone would do research about dates. A date was about spending time with someone, it wasn’t all that important where you went.

“Just do whatever, Boo. Go to a restaurant or a cinema. It’s not such a big deal.” Seungkwan shook his head at the comment. There was something like pity in his eyes and it didn’t sit right with Jihoon. 

“It’s really sad that you think like that. We’ll only have our first date once. I want it to be special. What’s so wrong about that?” Jihoon had no answer to Seungkwan’s question. The younger was right, there was nothing wrong with his mindset. Maybe Jihoon was in the wrong here. 

“If you like someone a lot, you think about what he would like to do and how you can make the day very memorable. This is all common sense. So, how did you spend your first date with Soonyoung-hyung?” 

Jihoon swallowed thickly. All witty remarks had died down on his tongue and a strange feeling of uneasiness settled in the pit of his stomach. “We haven’t gone on a date yet,” the officer said lowly.

“Oh really? But I thought you were dating. Why haven’t you gone on a date?” Jihoon didn’t know how to explain it shortly. Their relationship was a mess right now and he didn’t want to talk in detail about it, so he settled for the most neutral answer. 

“We just didn’t have the time for it.” Seungkwan looked unimpressed and laid the magazine to the side. “Okay, if you say so. It’s still strange though. Don’t you want to go on a date?” 

“I want to go,” Jihoon said so quietly that Seungkwan would have probably not heard it, if it wasn’t for his heightened omega hearing. 

“Did you think already about what you want to do on your first date?” Jihoon shook his head. He had no idea. His brain had been the whole time preoccupied with getting laid. Now he felt stupid that he hadn’t even thought about it once. 

Jihoon breathed once heavily in and out. It wasn’t the time for regretful feelings like this. He would think like a normal person about their first date after his hormones were under control again. Thinking about dates was of no use to him right now. Jihoon started getting slightly uncomfortable being alone with Seungkwan, he really didn’t want to talk about dates anymore.

Like always, just on cue, Jeonghan came into the office with an overly happy expression on his face. For once the officer was very happy about his friend’s perfect timing. “Morning, Jihoonie!” He greeted the omega and went to Seungkwan’s table to lay a pack of paper on his desk. “Can you copy all of these?” Seungkwan groaned loudly. 

“That will take forever, hyung!!” Jeonghan grinned widely. 

“You can think about your date later. Work comes first.” Seungkwan huffed, but didn’t complain and took the stack of paper and went to the copy room. “And what can I do for you, Jihoonie? It would be nice if you only came to see me, but that’s just wishful thinking.” Jihoon rolled his eyes and sat down on Seungkwan’s chair. 

“What do I have to know about sex with an alpha?” The smile on Jeonghan’s face fell slightly and he finally walked over to his desk and sat down too. 

“I guess, you are not just asking because you are curious?”

Jihoon shook his head and picked up a pen from Seungkwan’s table looking at it like it was the most interesting thing in the world. “Soonyoung agreed to have sex with me today. I thought, I should ask about it beforehand.” Jeonghan made an unbelieving noise. 

“Beforehand? Isn’t this much too short beforehand? You have never asked about things like these and now you think talking about it once is enough?” Jihoon shrugged and laid the pen back on the table. 

“I can only ask now. I don’t have more time than this. At least I’m in my right mind at the moment.”

“Jihoonie, talking about this once won’t be of any help. The most important thing is that you have a stable relationship and that you understand the dynamic between you and Soonyoung. Have you finally accepted your omega biology?” Jihoon made a sour face and sank father down on the chair. “I just want to know if there are certain things I have to know about sex with an alpha. Why are you making it so complicated?”

“I’m not making things complicated, but things _are_ complicated when you know nothing about alpha and omegas!!” 

Jihoon gritted his teeth angrily. “Just tell me about the sex already!” Jeonghan shook his head and sighed heavily. 

“If you don’t want to take the alpha-omega-dynamic into account, then just think about the first time you had sex with a beta. It’s probably pretty much like that.” Jihoon made a disgusted face. “That was awful. Do you want to tell me it will be that awful??” 

“Not exactly, I’m trusting Soonyoung to make it as good as possible for you, but the first time with an alpha is pretty overwhelming. And it fucking hurts.” Suddenly all anticipation about the upcoming evening died down. 

“Awesome, now I’m really looking forward to it.” Jeonghan gave him a look that clearly told him ‘to suck it up’. 

“Well, it would have been good if you had the time to actually prepare well. You could have worn a plug for a while, it would have made things easier, but not everyone does that. I also didn’t and it wasn’t fun. Someone should have told me about the option with the plug.” The nervousness Jihoon had felt earlier was back full force. He understood now a bit better why Soonyoung was so against having sex immediately. And this was only the physical aspect, he still didn’t know anything about the biological aspect. But since he didn’t plan on taking that into account, he just shoved that thought aside. He had become very good at ignoring certain thoughts lately.

“Is there nothing else that helps to make it better?” Jeonghan shrugged at the question. 

“The only thing you can do is relax and completely trust Soonyoung. It will get better as soon as your omega biology takes over and believe me it will happen no matter what. An alpha can’t hold himself back in a situation like this, so only your biology can help you handle the pain and the emotions.” That information was neither useful nor made it Jihoon feel better. 

“Why is everything so difficult with you omegas and alphas?” Jeonghan looked confused at Jihoon. “You’re an omega too though.” Jihoon took the magazine on Seungkwan’s desk and flipped some pages. There were too many happy people smiling in the photos. It didn’t fit his current mood, so he closed the magazine again and laid it back on the table. 

“No, not really.” Jeonghan got up from his seat and walked around the table to sit down on the desk close to the other omega. 

“Jihoonie, you have to accept the omega in you. If you are being like this, it will just make things more complicated. Also the sex.” Jihoon glared at his friends and pushed the dating magazine angrily from the table. It felt with a loud bang to the floor. 

“I don’t want to accept it! I don’t want to be this way, hyung.” 

“Jihoon, we had this discussion already before. I thought it had gotten better. I thought now that you are dating Soonyoung, you would finally accept your omega biology at least a bit.” Jihoon got up from his seat to leave, but Jeonghan grabbed his arm tightly to hold him back, so the officer turned around angrily. 

“No, I always hate my damn biology! This has nothing to do with Soonyoung’s and my relationship!” Jeonghan was standing now right in front of Jihoon looking him straight into the eyes. 

“But it has everything to do with your relationship. You are alpha and omega!” 

“No, we are Soonyoung and Jihoon. Our feelings have nothing to do with our biology!” Jeonghan was throwing his arms up into the air and walked back to his seat and sat down tiredly. 

“You’re driving me insane, Lee Jihoon. You can’t just turn your biology off.” Jihoon kicked the magazine that was lying on the floor away. 

“Watch me!!” Jihoon stomped off angrily, but stopped at the door. “Thanks for the advice, hyung. At least for the one about the sex.”

He could get through the sex somehow. After all, it was just sex. And what was even pain? Jihoon had been shot before, so he seriously doubted that sleeping with an alpha would be worse than that. He trusted Soonyoung to make it as good as possible for him.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The time was going by fast that day and the later it got, the more anxious Jihoon became. It was very unusual for him. He wasn’t a virgin, so sex shouldn’t worry him that much. Jihoon opened the drawer of his desk and took the small pink plush cat out. He smiled at the memory of Soonyoung giving him the present. He tightly gripped the cat and closed the drawer. There was nothing to worry about because he would be with Soonyoung.

Jihoon looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was half an hour until finishing time. He put his things neatly away and got up from his seat. “I’m leaving early. See you tomorrow.” Jihoon heard Seokmin calling after him, but didn’t turn around again. He didn’t want to explain to his friends that he wanted to leave earlier to have sex with Soonyoung. That would have been one awkward talk.

Jihoon walked fast to Soonyoung’s office and opened the door with a bang. “Let’s go home,” he said loud and confidently. Soonyoung looked up from the papers lying in front of him obviously confused why Jihoon wanted to go home already. 

“There is still half an hour of work time left.” Jihoon stepped closer to the other’s desk, never taking his eyes off the alpha. 

“I don’t want to wait anymore.”

Soonyoung’s pheromones flickered slightly and he put the papers to the side. “Alright, I didn’t even have a break, so leaving a bit earlier should be okay.” Soonyoung got up and grabbed his jacket that was lying on the side of the table. He walked up to Jihoon and patted the omega on the small of his back. 

“Let’s go,” he said while reaching for Jihoon’s hand, but noticed that the younger one was holding tightly onto the small pink plush cat. “Why are you carrying this with you?” Soonyoung asked in a playful tone. Jihoon ignored the question and left the office with fast steps. Soonyoung only caught up close to the parking lot with him again.

“You’re so tense. Is everything alright?” Jihoon stopped and turned around to Soonyoung. He didn’t want to admit that he was nervous. He wasn’t a teenager, but a 28 years old man. And because he was such a grown up man, he simply decided to avoid answering Soonyoung’s question and instead answered the previous one. 

“The cat was all the time lying in the drawer of my desk. I thought it was time to take it home with me.” Soonyoung cocked his head to the side, probably thinking about what to say. In the end he simply smiled at him and walked to the car. Jihoon had been wrong thinking that only a talk with his friends about what was going to happen today would be awkward. Talking to Soonyoung was very awkward too. He hoped it wouldn’t continue on like this.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon’s hope had been in vain. As soon as they stepped through the door of Jihoon’s flat, the awkward atmosphere was back. He put the cat on the table and dumbly stared at it, not knowing what to do. “Do you want to take a shower first? Or do you want to order something to eat?” Jihoon turned his head around to look at Soonyoung who stood beside him. The whole situation felt wrong. It felt a bit like they met over a hookup app and not like they were a couple. Sex really shouldn’t be this forced, but should simply happen when it was the right time. Jihoon slowly understood more and more what Soonyoung had been worrying about. He needed to save the situation somehow and make it better for both of them, but he didn’t know what to say. His mind was completely blank.

Soonyoung seemed to notice his distress and stepped closer to him. He carressed Jihoon’s face with his fingers before leaning down giving him a short kiss on the lips. “Go and take a shower, Jihoonie. Don’t worry too much. It’s just you and me, trust me.” Jihoon wanted to scream at the other that his words weren’t reassuring at all, but he simply pulled himself together and walked to the bathroom and took a shower. Jihoon still couldn’t calm down his nerves while warm water was running down his body, so he hurriedly cleaned himself and got out of the shower again. He dried himself off and considered putting his clothes on, but thought of it in the end as a waste of time. The clothes had to be taken off either way, so he just put a towel around his hips and picked up his clothes to put them into the laundry basket outside.

When Jihoon came out of the bathroom, he immediately froze up at the sight in front of him, the clothes in his hands all falling to the floor. Soonyoung was standing in front of him, only clad in his pants, his shirt was lying discarded at the side. Strangely enough, he had never seen Soonyoung without a shirt before and he got slightly breathless at the sight. Soonyoung was ripped. Jihoon himself had always worked out a lot and tried to put on some muscles, but it was difficult for an omega. Soonyoung on the other hand was an alpha and easily put on muscles with the right training. Soonyoung definitely did the right training. On top of running around half naked in his flat, Soonyoung had the audacity to smirk at him. He couldn’t remember if the alpha had ever smirked at him before. That was more a Jihoon thing and not a Soonyoung thing.

Jihoon got thrown out of his thoughts when Soonyoung leaned down to him and started kissing and biting his ear. Jihoon couldn’t hold back a small moan slipping out of his mouth, his cock already twitching under the towel. 

“Wait a moment, honey. I’ll be quick.” Soonyoung bit his ear a final time and added, „And then we’ll go to bed.“ As sudden as Soonyoung had started his advances, he stopped them again and vanished into the bathroom.

Jihoon tried to catch his breath again. He was utterly and truly fucked. He didn’t know there was such a teasing side to Soonyoung and he wasn’t sure if he would survive it. He already felt slick running down his legs, so he simply took the towel off and wiped the slick away. He grabbed the clothes from the floor and threw them together with the towel carelessly into the laundry basket. The omega stood now stark naked in his living room, considering his choices. The only one that made sense was moving to the bedroom. 

He turned the light in the bedroom on and shut it off again, not sure what would be better. Complete darkness didn’t seem all that appealing, so he turned the light on again. He walked to the bed and lay down. After a minute he started changing his position to lie on his side, but moved to the back immediately afterwards. He wiggled around for a while, never content with the position he was in. Jihoon only stopped moving around when he heard the bathroom door opening and froze up at once lying now unmoving on his back until Soonyoung came into the bedroom - without any clothes on. Jihoon felt like his heart was trying to beat its way out of his skin at the sight.

Soonyoung’s pheromones were smelling so very appealing in that moment that Jihoon needed to grab the sheets tightly to keep himself under control. A whine was threatening to leave his throat, but his mind still wasn’t hazy enough to allow it. Soonyoung looked like sex on legs with his hard sixpack, his thick thighs and even thicker cock. A wave of arousal ran from the base of his spine to the back of his neck and back down again.

Soonyoung came over to sit on the side of the bed and cradled gently with one hand through Jihoon’s hair. “Look at you. You’re so beautiful like this.” Jihoon wanted to argue that he was not beautiful because beautiful shouldn’t be a word relating to a man, but the objection was left stuck in his throat. He was much too aroused to get a single word out in that moment.

Soonyoung crawled onto the bed and positioned himself hovering over Jihoon. The omega felt like passing out. He didn’t know why this was affecting him so much. They hadn’t even done anything, but it was already hard to breathe.

“Relax, Jihoonie. I’ll make it as best as possible for you. I’ll take care of you.” Somewhere in the back of Jihoon’s mind he knew that he should dislike these words, but he couldn’t care less at this moment. He just wanted Soonyoung to touch him finally. And just like the last time, Soonyoung must have read his mind somehow because he leaned down to kiss Jihoon at last. The kiss was slow and hot and Soonyoung kept on biting Jihoon’s lip until it was dark red and swollen. Jihoon was grabbing the sheets even tighter moving around his body helplessly on the bed. Soonyoung’s pheromones were edging him on so much that slick was again running out of his hole. He felt too empty. The omega finally pushed the alpha slightly away and panted heavily. “Soonyoung, d-do something,” he said in a much more whiny voice than he intended too.

Soonyoung immediately started kissing down Jihoon’s throat, taking his sweet time to lick and kiss every inch of skin. He kept on lapping at the younger ones throat and collarbones and Jihoon wondered for a moment if that was an alpha thing. No one had ever put so much energy in simply caressing his skin, especially not while having sex for the first time. It was quite charming, unfortunately in the long run not very satisfying.

Another thing Jihoon noticed was the fact that Soonyoung kept avoided the omegas scent gland, but he had no time to question that any further because Soonyoung was suddenly busily licking and sucking at one of his nipples and Jihoon keened highly at the feeling. His nipples had never been particularly sensitive, so he was in shock when the touch of Soonyoung aroused him so much that a loud moan rippled out his throat. “Nghh, Soon…” Jihoon’s whole body trashed around on the bed and he finally let go of the sheets and instead grabbed with one hand Soonyoung’s back and with the other his hair pulling slightly at it. The alpha didn’t seem to be bothered by it and simply changed to Jihoon’s other nipple and bit down gently on it. The smaller one’s eyes rolled back in his head from the pleasure and his hips started moving in the hope to get some release. Soonyoung noticed the desperation in Jihoon’s movements and finally stopped playing with his nipples. He looked up at Jihoon and gave him a coy smile. 

“Should I start preparing you, honey?” Just hearing Soonyoung’s voice a whole octave lower than normal made even more slick run out of his hole. He felt painfully empty at this point. Instead of answering, he simply pushed Soonyoung down with his hands showing him what he wanted. The alpha chuckled lowly and opened up Jihoon’s legs wide looking at the price in front of him. Jihoon closed his eyes and arched his back in anticipation from the bed. Soonyoung finally took pity on the highly aroused omega and pushed one finger deep into his hole. A whole lot of slick gushed out of him, filling the whole room with an overly sweet raspberry scent. 

“You’re so wet. You only should be this wet while in heat.” Soonyoung’s words felt like a stab to his heart. Jealousy was burning deep in Jihoon’s gut. The feeling was mind consuming and painful.

“D-did you have sex with m-many omegas in heat before?” Jihoon stuttered breathlessly. He hated the thought of Soonyoung doing this with countless of other omegas and felt close to crying. Soonyoung seemed to notice his mood change at once and leaned forward to gently kiss Jihoon on the lips while still moving his finger inside the omega. 

“No one can compare to you. You are the most intelligent, strongest and most beautiful. You‘re so very pretty with your small pink lips and porcelain white skin. You’re perfect Jihoonie. So much better than anyone else. Don’t worry honey, I won’t look at another omega ever again.” 

Jihoon felt immediately calmer hearing the alphas words and closed his eyes again concentrating on Soonyoung’s finger moving inside of him. Soonyoung added a second one soon after and Jihoon started really feeling Soonyoung inside of him, grazing his prostate very slightly. “One more,” the omega crooked out and Soonyoung complied immediately. Jihoon threw his head back in pleasure at finally feeling slightly full. Lewd noises were leaving his mouth, which seemed to spurn on the alpha who suddenly moved his finger a lot harsher in and out of Jihoon. 

“Ahhh, fuck. So good,” Jihoon keened highly and Soonyoung started changing between thrusting his fingers into the omega and hardly scissoring him open. The stretch slightly burned and a broken moan left Jihoon’s mouth.

“Sorry, Jihoonie. I need to prepare you well or you won’t be able to take my cock. Bear with me.” Soonyoung suddenly grabbed Jihoon’s neglected cock and moved slowly up and down his length. Even more pleasure was rushing through Jihoon and his orgasm was approaching fast. 

“S-stop I’m going to come...” Jihoon was trashing his head on the pillow from side to side, feeling too many things at the same time. 

“Then come, honey. You’ll be more relaxed when you had one orgasm. Don’t worry, I’ll make you come afterwards again.” Soonyoung’s words were finally setting Jihoon free and he let go. The tight heat in his belly exploded and he came with a loud and strained moan. His cum was coating Soonyoung’s hand that was still lazily milking the omegas shaft. Jihoon shook hard and tried to free himself from Soonyoung who was still applying pressure to his prostate and dick, but didn’t manage to do so. Soonyoung finally let go of the younger one’s cock, but went back to opening up his hole harshly. Jihoon didn’t even flinch this time because he was in too much bliss in his post-orgasmic state of mind.

“Jihoonie, I’m gonna put in a fourth one, okay?” Jihoon only nodded his head, not even really registering what the alpha had asked, but he certainly felt it when a fourth finger penetrated him, splitting him even wider open. The harsh stretch forced a strained moan out of Jihoon’s throat and Soonyoung immediately started kissing in reaction to it the inside of Jihoon’s thigh. The gentle kisses and licks helped the omega calm down and he forced his eyes open to finally look at Soonyoung again. The alphas pupils were blown unbelievably wide and he looked like he could barely hold on anymore. He could see it in Soonyoung’s eyes that he wanted to fuck him so much that he was almost losing his mind. Jihoon felt content at the sight. He would finally get what he needed so much.

“Take me already, Soon,” the omega crooked out, voice slightly hoarse from moaning so loudly before. Soonyoung licked over his lips seemingly considering what to do for a moment before pulling his fingers out. Jihoon sighed at the feeling and opened his legs even wider. Soonyoung clenched his teeth at the sight and shook his head hard a couple of times before finally positioning himself, so his cock was nudging at Jihoon’s wet hole. 

“I’m sorry if it hurts. I’ll try to hold myself back as long as possible.” Soonyoung pushed gently into Jihoon but it drove tears to the omegas eyes immediately. Jihoon put a hand over his mouth in reaction to the pain. He bit it slightly to hold back the noises of pain he wanted to make, but Soonyoung wasn’t having it. He pulled the hand away and slipped two of his own fingers in Jihoon’s mouth. “Don’t hurt yourself. You can bite me instead if it hurts.”

Soonyoung very slowly inched forward and the pain just got more intense. Jihoon bit hard onto Soonyoung’s fingers, but the alpha didn’t pull them away in pain, but just let the smaller one bite him hard.

The stretch was so harsh that Jihoon started feeling delirious at one point. Soonyoung felt even bigger than he looked and it just never ended. Soonyoung kept on pushing into Jihoon’s small body who couldn’t hold back anymore and let the fingers go and instead screamed loudly. „You have to let go Jihoonie. You’re hurting too much. Let go, come on. I’m almost at my limit too. I can’t hold back anymore.“ Jihoon started shivering and Soonyoung leaned down to kiss him slowly. Jihoon’s eyes rolled back in his head and he gave up resisting the stretch relaxing under Soonyoung’s touch.

“I‘m all the way inside. Can you feel it?” Soonyoung took one of Jihoon’s hands and put it on his stomach where the head of his cock was slightly bulging it up. Jihoon keened highly, feeling it under his fingertips. 

“Full, hmm ah...“ Soonyoung felt big and hot stretching him open wide. His dick was noticeable twitching and pulsating inside of him and Jihoon felt a strange contentment washing over him. He felt so completely full. He could have never imagined that his body could feel so stretched out and full. It was an enlightening experience.

After staying for a moment like this, Jihoon finally opened his eyes and saw Soonyoung watching him with a predatory gaze. He seemed to be completely out of his mind, barely being able to contain himself from not pounding into Jihoon. He had held up for a long time, but he seemed to be at his limit now. Soonyoung’s pupils were blown so wide his eyes were pitch black, but it didn’t scare Jihoon. His mind was at a far away place and his subconsciousness was telling to finally let the alpha have his way with him. 

“Please move.” Jihoon could see how Soonyoung snapped as soon as the words were spoken. A low growl escaped his throat before he leaned more over the body under him and pulled out his cock to just harshly thrust into him again. 

“AHHHH!!!” The alpha used so much force that Jihoon’s body moved around on the bed, but even the loud screams of the omega didn’t stop the alpha and he kept on pounding in a fast rhythm into Jihoon. The omega trashed around on the bed not knowing anymore where was left and right. The room turned fuzzy around the edges and Jihoon’s vision began to swim. He didn’t feel any pain anymore, everything was just pure, hot pleasure. Soonyoung’s cock kept on hard pressing against his prostate and he had never felt any pleasure like this before. 

“D-don’t stop. Please don‘t ahhhh d-don’t...” Sex had been nice with other partners too but this was completely different. Maybe he really needed an alpha to completely satisfy him or maybe he just needed Soonyoung.

Loud noises of skin slapping against skin and obscene squelching sounds were filling up the whole room. Jihoon was continuously moaning and gasping, not even noticing for how long the alpha had already fucked hard into him. He only came back slightly to his senses when his partner spoke to him. 

“Do you feel good?” Soonyoung’s voice was so low and raspy and it just added to the desire running through his veins like a wildfire. 

“Yes!! Yes yes yes…” Jihoon wanted to tell Soonyoung how good he exactly felt but he was barely able to form any coherent words or thoughts. “I need, I need…” Jihoon threw his head back in pure bliss when Soonyoung started pounding even harder and faster into him. It shouldn’t even be possible to fuck that hard without a break into someone, but an alphas stamina seemed to be very different from a betas.

“What do you need Jihoonie? I’ll give you anything.” Jihoon let out another loud moan. He grabbed the alphas back with one hand digging his nails deep into the skin. He wanted to come. He was already so close to the edge, but there was still something missing.

“Knot me and fill me up.” Jihoon didn’t even know where this request came from, but it was probably the omega inside of him knowing better what he needed than he knew himself. “Knot me please. Please, I n-need it…” Soonyoung growled lowly at Jihoon’s words baring his teeth in a very animalistic way. The alpha snapped his hips a few more times and slipped the rapidly expanding knot into Jihoon. 

The omega opened his mouth in a silent scream. The knot was getting bigger and bigger until it locked their bodies perfectly to each other and only then he could feel Soonyoung filling him up one, two, three times. “Soonyoung, so full... it’s so ahh good.” Jihoon’s body was ringing in satisfaction, being filled up so completely. He didn’t want this to ever stop. It was perfect.

When Soonyoung had finally shot all his load into Jihoon, he rolled them around so the smaller one was lying on top of the alphas body, the knot still tightly locking them together. “Are you okay?” Soonyoung asked in a breathless voice while threading his fingers through Jihoon’s hair. 

“Hmmm.” Jihoon wiggled around on top of the alpha and finally laid his head onto his shoulder and closed his eyes. He felt deadly tired. The emotions, the desire, the pain, it all had been a sensory overload for Jihoon. He felt his mind slowly slipping away. 

“Sleep well, Jihoonie.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Jihoon woke up the next morning, he smelt the calming scent of coffee and mint and the crisp freshness of new bedsheets. The scent should make him comfortable, but instead he felt a strange emotion flaring up, making him stressed. He was feeling needy in a way he had never experienced before. He craved a hug and a kiss and worst of all protection. It wasn’t something he should be feeling. The omega opened his eyes and saw Soonyoung sitting on the bed watching him fondly, a small smile on his lips. “You’re already in preheat,” the alpha said and Jihoon finally remembered what happened before he fell asleep. He slept with Soonyoung and behaved like an insane person. He had been needy and had said all that stupid stuff, before finally passing out from all the emotions he experienced.

Jihoon sat up in shock. “Yesterday, that wasn’t me! That was even worse than what had happened before.” Jihoon still remembered how hurt he had felt when Soonyoung mentioned he was too wet. How his mind went almost insane with jealousy. That wasn’t how he was. Of course everyone was jealous at one point, but it shouldn’t feel that horrible. Also he shouldn’t have been so completely submissive. It was a bit like a spell had been cast over him, making him forget anything else than the need to have sex. It was just too cruel. Jihoon hated his omega biology so much that it drove tears to his eyes.

“I hope something like that will never happen after my heat again.” Jihoon who was looking at his hands, only saw from the corner of his eye Soonyoung getting up from the bed. 

“You’re probably hungry. I could make kimchi fried rice or I could buy your favorite sandwiches at the convenience store.” Jihoon shook his head, still not looking at the alpha. 

“No need, there should be something in the fridge I can eat. I want to take a shower now.” Jihoon got up from the bed and winced slightly. He felt sorer than he ever had before and they only had one round of sex. Hopefully he would get used to Soonyoung’s alpha cock soon, he didn’t want to limp every time they had sex.

Jihoon took some shaky steps towards the door and looked for the first time really at Soonyoung this morning. His eyes were completely void of any emotions.

“Soon? Is something wrong?” Jihoon had been so busy with his own emotions that he felt now bad for ignoring the other. Something was not right. 

“I just thought you… I didn’t think it would be so hard on you. You wanted to do this and...” Jihoon went with shaky steps over to Soonyoung and hugged him. 

“It will be all over soon. You said I’m going into heat. When will that be exactly?” Jihoon forced his own thoughts to calm down. Soonyoung obviously couldn’t deal well with the situation too. For the sake of their relationship, he could shove aside the hate for his omega biology for the moment. It wouldn’t be a big problem soon either way.

“From your smell I would say tomorrow already. You’re going into heat much too fast. It seems like you are skipping most of the preheat phase and that’s actually worrying. Your body needs to prepare for the heat.” Jihoon smiled widely hearing that he didn’t need to cope with everything for a long time anymore. 

“I’m glad it’s all going so fast. Everything will be back to normal soon.” Soonyoung didn’t share Jihoon’s enthusiasm, but looked slightly distressed. 

“You seem to not understand this. The preheat is important. You need to eat enough and rest well. You need to…” Jihoon kissed Soonyoung shortly on the lips and grinned at him. The older one was just worrying too much. He knew that it was an alpha trait, so he didn’t comment on it. Soonyoung probably wouldn't have taken it well. “It will be fine. My body won’t break.”

Jihoon turned around to go to the bathroom, but Soonyoung started talking once more. “Jihoon, what do I do when you really go feral in your heat? Should I leave you alone or spend the heat with you?” The omega was confused hearing the question. He thought it was set in stone that Soonyoung would spend his heat with him. 

“Jeonghan said it’s very painful to spend the heat alone, so wouldn’t it be better if you spend it with me?” Soonyoung let go of Jihoon’s arm and turned now around himself. “Yes, of course it would be better.” The alpha’s voice sounded sad, almost broken. Jihoon wasn’t able to ignore it. 

“Wait, something is not right with you. Why did you ask this?” Soonyoung halted his step and turned around again. The pain he had heard in the other’s voice wasn’t reflecting in his eyes. His face was completely straight. Jihoon wasn’t sure if he had just imagined the sadness in his voice or if Soonyoung was once more a very good actor. 

“Spending a heat together is special in a relationship. It feels kind of wrong to me if you won’t remember it.” There it was again, the strange sentiment of an alpha. Jihoon understood where Soonyoung was coming from, but they couldn’t change the situation they were in. They could just accept it and move on afterwards, at least that was Jihoon’s opinion. 

“Soon, we only have to go through this once. And maybe I won’t go feral and everything will be fine.” Jihoon didn’t know why he added that last part. The doctor had said that the possibility to go not feral was close to zero. Who was he even trying to fool?

“I’ll take a shower and then get ready for work.” Soonyoung immediately grabbed Jihoon’s arm when he turned around. 

“No, wait. I really do anything for you and let you do anything you want normally, but you can’t go to work today. Please, I wouldn’t be able to handle it. You’re already so close to your heat, you need to stay at home. I’ll lose my mind otherwise.” Jihoon felt the immediate need to talk back, but swallowed it down. He didn’t know a lot about alpha-omega-dynamics, but one thing that even he understood was the fact that alphas couldn’t deal with their omegas going outside close to their heat. Especially if they are not mated. Seungcheol had always made sure that Jeonghan stayed one or even two days prior to his heat at home. Even after mating he didn’t let go of that habit. So maybe for once, Jihoon should not go against his omega biology and do what Soonyoung wants. Afterall, he didn’t want his boyfriend to rip another alphas head off. 

“Okay, I’ll stay at home.” 

Soonyoung’s face lightened up a bit, a faint smile on his lips now. “I’ll get you more food before I’ll go to work. I can also get you some clothes from my flat for the nest if you want.” There was a warm feeling washing over Jihoon at the mention of having Soonyoung’s clothes with his scent around him. At the same time, hearing Soonyoung talk about a nest was ridiculous to Jihoon. He had heard that omegas had nesting habits before heat, but it was incomprehensible to him. 

“Nest? No way. That won’t be necessary.” Jihoon shoved Soonyoung away slightly in distress. 

“But, Jihoonie…” The omegas eyes flared up with anger and Soonyoung immediately stopped talking. 

“I’ll stay at home and I’m okay with the food, but no fucking nest! Do I look like a bird to you?” Soonyoung nodded and sighed deeply. 

“If you don’t feel good, call me, okay? This is important. I’ll come home immediately.”

Jihoon didn’t understand it. Soonyoung was behaving like he would have a mental breakdown after leaving for work. Right now, Jihoon only felt a bit off. Strangely needy, slightly hot and definitely very hungry. He wanted to take a shower already and then eat something. There was no need to worry so much, he would do just fine on his own. Alphas really were overbearing.

“Go to work already. I’ll do just fine.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon walked restlessly around the flat. He had eaten an insane amount of food and now he didn’t know what to do anymore. He needed Soonyoung. He had been stupid to refuse the clothes because Soonyoung’s scent would have calmed him down for sure. Jihoon walked over to the bedroom and lay down. There was a faint trace of Soonyoung’s scent on the sheets so he wrapped them around himself. He felt the strange need to hide in a closet or sit in a corner. It must be the need to nest, so he was stubbornly refusing it. He let himself fall onto the bed and pushed the sheets over his head. “Soon…” He felt tears pricking at his eyes. It was all too much. He just couldn’t calm down, but he also didn’t want to call the other. He wasn’t a weak omega who called for his alpha the second he left. He could get through this alone.

Hours later, when Jihoon heard the door opening and the scent of coffee and mint was flooding into the flat, he finally opened his eyes again - they were burning from crying. His body was covered in sweat and he wriggled around restlessly under the blanket. The more he smelled the pheromones of Soonyoung, the more his body burned up. He was feeling like in a strange fever dream. Reality was slowly swimming away and when the sheets were pulled off his head, he didn’t know if the figure in front of him was real or just an illusion. 

“Jihoonie? I’m here, don’t worry. I’m here for you.” He got pulled into a tight hug, but the only thing he could think of was getting rid of the other’s clothes, so he weakly pulled at the offending shirt. “You should have called me. I didn’t know you would go into heat already today. Shit, I’m so sorry. I should have stayed with you.”

A wave of arousal crashed down on Jihoon and he started shaking strongly. His mind was getting more and more hazy and he couldn’t hold on anymore. 

“Alpha please…”

His voice sounded very foreign in his ears, that was the last thought he had before blacking out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) What a long chapter. I’m quite content with it. With Code Red I wanted to write a story where I could add a lot of very real aspects. Real human emotions and problems and not just “wow, life is so easy”. It might sound kind of strange because this is an abo story and of course so much things are made up, but many of the problems are still very much normal human troubles. This chapter is probably one where you can see it very well tbh. 
> 
> There are some moments in this chapter, where you can see shining through how Soonyoung and Jihoon really are when they don’t try to hold back and hide themselves all the time. If you really think about it, you might be able to see how their relationship will turn out one day. Unfortunately that day still seems to be a bit far away because they are still unable to communicate right. Both of them are not really living together, but they are more living next to each other. They aren’t really on the same page and it’s all just too complicated at this point.
> 
> This update is very early because I kind of felt the need to upload this chapter. I probably won’t be able to update already this Saturday, but only next Saturday… but we’ll see :)
> 
> Thank you for reading!! And thank you so much for commenting. Each comment really makes my day. It’s very reassuring that there are still people who like reading CR even though the content is a bit heavy right now. Thank you for supporting me. Love you <3
> 
> See you soon!!
> 
> If you’re interested in my writing process, you can add me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel). And if you have questions or things you can’t write here, you can write me on [curious cat ](https://curiouscat.me/just_a_pinwheel).


	31. Feels Like Dying

Jihoon woke up feeling tired and slightly hot. He opened his eyes and saw Soonyoung sitting beside him on the bed. He was smiling gently and leaned over to push a strand of hair out of his face. 

“How are you feeling?” He asked and Soonyoung’s scent began to warmly wrap around him. Jihoon didn’t understand what was going on. He couldn’t remember what happened and it made him feel restless. He searched through his mind, but everything was just a blur.

“My mind is hazy. I don’t know what happened.” Soonyoung crawled even closer to Jihoon and took one of the younger one’s hands and kissed along his knuckles. 

“You went into heat. I wish you could remember something, but you were completely feral again.” Jihoon pulled his hand out of Soonyoung’s hold and sat up, a pain shooting up his spine immediately. He wanted to cry out in pain, but suppressed it. 

Right, he went into heat and had felt like dying while waiting for Soonyoung to come back home. It had been horribly painful.

“How many days do I not remember?” Soonyoung gnawed at his lip for a moment before answering. 

“Six days, but your pheromones are very stable now. It‘s like the doctor had said, you are back to normal.” 

Soonyoung was right, but wrong at the same time. The overwhelming need for sex was gone and his thoughts were clear for the first time since that evening he had almost gotten killed. But he wasn’t back to normal. He was still a prisoner in the body of an omega. He didn’t remember once again what had happened in his heat and his hormones might go out of control one day again. It was a horrible thought and Jihoon just didn’t want to deal with it anymore. 

The things that happened before his heat were fueling his fears even more. The longing, the pain, the heat, it all had been unbearable. He didn’t want to experience something like this ever again.

He wanted his old life back without all the troubles his omega biology was giving him. He felt a pull at his heart telling him to crawl into the embrace of Soonyoung, but it wasn’t even the time for that while he was stressed out and in panic. No, nothing was back to normal. He had been stupid to believe that everything would get better after his heat.

He had hoped all the urges he had, all the overwhelming feelings would just vanish into thin air after the heat, but that wasn’t the case. Even when his mind was clear, he still felt the pull to take shelter in Soonyoung’s arms, he still felt like he should make himself small and submit to the other. He had lived all his life independently and with a strong mind. He just couldn’t get used to his omega biology.

“I thought about going to work today, but I can stay here if you don’t feel well. I won’t leave you alone if it makes you feel bad. I don’t want you to feel lonely.” Soonyoung’s words left Jihoon feel slightly nauseous. His biology was obviously hating the thought of Soonyoung leaving him alone right now. All the more reason for Jihoon to push these feelings aside. 

“No, got to work. I want to be alone for now.” Jihoon’s voice was cold and Soonyoung was obviously taken aback, but the omega had other things on his mind right now. He had to sort out this mess first. Things couldn’t go on like this. He would talk later to Soonyoung about it.

„Okay,“ Soonyoung mumured and got up from the bed. He looked at Jihoon, probably waiting for him to say something, maybe even hold him back, but the younger one just averted his eyes. Soonyoung’s head fell and he turned around without saying more and left the flat.

Jihoon got hastly out of the bed and pain shot through every part of his body. He hurt an insane amount. He couldn’t even imagine how much sex they must have had to feel so much pain everywhere. He limped to the bathroom and got under the shower. The warm water only helped to ease the pain slightly, but he had to bear the pain somehow and leave his flat. 

He needed to talk to his doctor.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Once again, Jihoon walked through the corridors of the familiar hospital. The sterile light hurt his eyes, but he was sure that he didn’t need to deal with that for long anymore. The officer rounded a corner and saw the usual receptionist sitting at her table. 

“I need to see doctor Kim.” The nurse sighed loudly at Jihoon’s hard voice. 

“Good morning to you too. You did so well with making an appointment the last time. You know, there are other people who have problems too?” Jihoon rolled his eyes at the question. 

“Yes, I know, but what can I do? I’m in a difficult situation and I need to talk to the doctor right now.” The receptionist tapped angrily with a pen onto the table. 

“I see what I can do. Take a seat for now.”

Jihoon sat down on one of the chairs and looked around in annoyance. There were other people waiting to get called by a doctor and it didn’t escape him that he was the only one without company. Next to him was sitting a mated couple whispering to each other while looking at an ultrasonic scan. The alpha pinched the omegas cheek, which made the omega giggle loudly. He repressed the need to snort at their overly sweet antics.

Jihoon’s name got suddenly called and he stood up, but stopped for a second to look at the mated pair again. The alphas smile was blindingly bright and his pheromones were emitting pure happiness. He couldn’t remember ever smelling such overwhelming happiness on Soonyoung. He shook his head at the thought and started walking to the doctor’s office.

“Good morning, I didn’t expect to see you this soon again. Where is your boyfriend?” Jihoon made a sour face at the doctor’s question and sat down in the chair in front of his table. 

“At work. This is something I need to do by myself.” The doctor looked at the chart in front of him and then back at Jihoon. 

“Your hormones are stable again. You went into heat very fast.” The omega shrugged at the remark. 

“It was too painful to go on like this. We needed to end it as soon as possible.”

“Why are you here Lee Jihoon-ssi?” The officer hesitated answering for a moment. He came here for something he had considered already a thousand of times since his first heat. In the end, there was no other choice for him if he wanted to live a normal life again. 

“I want you to prescribe me the suppressants again.” 

The doctor looked surprised to say at least, shocked might be more fitting. “First of all, I don’t think this is the time to start taking the suppressants again. I said that you can’t take them until having at least one more heat, but it’s strongly advisable to be for a longer time off the suppressants.” Jihoon was prepared to have this discussion with the doctor. He wasn’t an idiot and remembered very well what he had told him. 

“I know that, but this is my final decision. I thought about it for a very long time and I came to the conclusion that I don’t want to live as omega. I have lived as beta for all my life and just can’t get used to the life as omega. I’m sure you distrust me with the suppressants after lying to you for many years, but I can assure you that the same thing won’t happen again. If I feel any side effects, I go to the hospital at once. I don’t want to die.” 

The doctor looked skeptically at Jihoon. “Yes, that is indeed one of my worries about prescribing you the suppressants again. I could only give you for now a package for two weeks and then you would need to come back for a check up. And you need to tell me about every little change in your body. Every slight headache or other abnormality.” Jihoon nodded. That seemed to be reasonable. He could go every two weeks for a check up if he would get his old life back in exchange. 

“That's fine with me.”

“There is another thing I worry about. Did you discuss this with your alpha boyfriend?” The doctor accentuated the word alpha heavily and it made his chest tighten. He had thought about discussing this with Soonyoung before, but in the end ultimately decided against it. It was his body, his biology and his decision. Soonyoung had loved him back at university when he was still living as beta and he could love him now as beta too. There was nothing to worry about because they loved each other. They were Jihoon and Soonyoung and not just an alpha-omega-pair. They had a past and a present and they also would have a future together.

“You don’t have to worry about that. My boyfriend also loved me as beta. So are you giving me the suppressants now or not?” The doctor neither said or moved for a while before finally getting up from his chair to go over to the medicine chest. He took out a very familiar package of tablettes and took two small stripes out of it. Afterwards he closed the door of the chest again and walked back to where Jihoon was sitting. 

“If you have any strange symptoms, you have to come to the hospital at once, understood?” Jihoon nodded his head eagerly, but the doctor didn’t react to it. He obviously wanted to hear an answer.

“Yes, I promise.” As soon as Jihoon had said these words, the doctor handed him the suppressants. 

“Take them with you, but think about it at home one more time. Also talk to your boyfriend before taking them.” Jihoon got up from the chair and put the pills into the pocket of his pants. 

“Thank you, doctor. I’ll be back if something happens and if not I’ll be here again in two weeks.” Jihoon bowed slightly and left the office. He walked fast out of the hospital and only stopped when he was outside again. He looked around watching his surroundings sparkle in the brightest colors. The noises of the cars were loud in his ears and a baby was crying close by. Everything was too bright and too noisy. He finally wanted peace again. He took one of the packages of the suppressants out of his pocket and stared at it for a while.

He shook all doubts off and took one of the pills out of the package. It was time to say goodbye to his omega biology he had never wanted to experience in the first place. He had learned many things about himself in the last few weeks and the one thing that stood out the most was the fact that he didn’t want to be controlled by his biology, but wanted to make his own decisions. He wanted to be free of any restraints again, back to the way it had always been.

Without bothering to get some water, Jihoon swallowed the pill down. He closed his eyes and waited for a couple of minutes until he felt his feelings slowly withering away. He opened his eyes again and everything around him was dull. He couldn’t remember that the world had looked so sad while taking the suppressants. Also the noises around him had died down and everything was a lot quieter again. He liked it.

Surprisingly enough there was one thing that bothered him a bit. He couldn’t smell the different scents anymore and it left him confused. Over the past weeks he had smelt so many different scents, he learned how to read the moods or emotions on pheromones and now the only thing he could smell were the exhausts of the cars. He would never smell the alluring mix of coffee and mint on Soonyoung again, but it was okay because for the first time in weeks, he felt like a real person again. No strange feelings were tugging at his mind and his head was free of any unwelcome thoughts and urges.

A smile spread on Jihoon’s face at the realisation. He was back to being just himself and he was happier than he’d ever been. In his euphoria, the only thought on his mind was to share that joy with Soonyoung. 

He needed to see him right now.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon skipped in a happy mood through the police station, ignoring the pain he still felt in his body. He walked past his own office and went further down the corridor to knock at Soonyoung’s door. Without waiting for an answer, he opened the door with a wide smile on his lips. The reaction he got wasn’t what he had expected. 

Soonyoung who sat at his table let the pen in his hand drop and his eyes widened in shock. Jihoon immediately got the feeling that this wouldn’t turn out well. He took a cautious step into the room and closed the door. 

„I just wanted to tell you that I’m already back at work...“ He trailed off when he saw the overflowing emotions in Soonyoung’s eyes. There was one feeling he could clearly decipher in the brown orbs and it filled Jihoon with fear: 

Betrayal.

„Please tell me that you didn’t do what I think you did.“ Soonyoung’s voice was cold. Jihoon shuddered slightly while fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. Just some minutes ago he had felt better than ever, but everything came crashing down on him now. Seeing Soonyoung so disappointed and cold shocked him to the core.

„Let me explain it, Soon,“ Jihoon’s voice was small even though he wanted to sound strong, but the betrayal in Soonyoung’s eyes made him forget all the confidence he had in his decision. 

„You better leave. I’m not in the right mind to talk to you now.“

Jihoon took a couple of steps closer to Soonyoung’s desk, his fingers started shaking slightly. He had never seen the alpha like this before. It wasn’t the same as the time he had been angrily screaming at Jihoon because he had been worried for him. Soonyoung was hurt and disappointed, barely able to restrain himself. Jihoon suddenly didn’t know anymore why he had thought it was a good idea to take the suppressants again without telling Soonyoung beforehand. It hadn’t been his intention to hurt him. He just wanted to feel normal again and didn’t want to be dictated by the biology he didn’t choose.

„Leave,“ Soonyoung repeated and Jihoon suddenly started stressing and walked around the table to take Soonyoung’s hand, but the alpha was pulling away at once. 

„Don’t touch me right now,“ Soonyoung hissed lowly. Jihoon felt panic rising up and his lungs were burning from the stress. The alpha got up from his seat and distanced himself from Jihoon.

Soonyoung walked backwards until he hit the wall. His breathing seemed to be slightly heavier than normal and it looked to Jihoon like the other was close to a mental breakdown. He didn’t understand why the alpha was reacting so strongly, when he had known him as beta before. 

“Soon, I don’t understand why you are reacting like this…” A strange noise escaped Soonyoung’s throat which was a mixture of a growl and whimper. It seemed a bit like the other couldn’t decide if he was more angry or more hurt. 

“Are you serious right now?” Jihoon nodded his head and Soonyoung’s eyes narrowed at the gesture.

„You really don’t know how badly you hurt me, do you? You begged me to sleep with you and afterwards you said you hated it, but I tried to not take it to heart because I knew you still had problems accepting your biology. I overlooked all the hurtful things you said to me because you’re so dear to me and I didn’t want to pressure you with my alpha needs and your omega biology. But then I stayed the whole heat with you and spending a heat with an omega is a big deal for an alpha. It’s very exhausting on so many levels, but it also makes you feel complete if real feelings are involved. But you only treated me very coldly and threw me away like a doll you didn’t want anymore. Is that all I am to you Jihoon? Just a stupid alpha you can push around whatever way you like?“ Jihoon was in complete shock hearing the alphas words. Everything Soonyoung had held back suddenly came to the surface and his pain was a lot deeper than Jihoon could have ever imagined.

„No, Soonyoung. That’s not true...“ Jihoon wanted to explain to Soonyoung why exactly he had acted so coldly this morning, but the alpha didn’t let him finish. 

„And now you are taking these awful suppressants again without even talking to me about it. Did you even once think about my feelings? I didn’t want to get close to you because I was afraid you wouldn’t accept me the way I am! As the alpha that I am! But still I tried and let you inside my heart... but maybe we are both not ready for this. Or we are just not meant to be.“

Jihoon’s heart was beating like crazy. This couldn’t be happening. 

„But I love you Soonyoung.“ The profiler's face was void of any emotions while looking at him. Because he took the suppressants, he couldn’t smell the feelings on Soonyoung’s scent and it made him anxious. He needed to know what exactly the other was feeling, but there was no way. He could only see the betrayal and anger in his eyes, but was that really all? 

„No, you don’t. At least not really, because you can’t love yourself. If you don’t accept and love yourself, you also can’t love another person. Love is not a one way street and only about loving a person. It’s so much more. It’s hard work and you have to constantly consider the other’s feelings, but at the same time you can’t lose yourself in the relationship. But most of all you have to love yourself. You need to learn this from now on, Jihoon. Our relationship is toxic at the moment. We are constantly hurting each other, unable to really communicate.“

The younger felt tears welling up in his eyes. Soonyoung was breaking up with him right now and his heart felt like it was being ripped apart. 

„Soon, please don’t do this. I was wrong about not talking to you. I’m sorry, but please don’t leave me.“ He walked up to Soonyoung and gently pulled at the other’s sleeve, but the alpha immediately pushed his hand away. 

„It’s for the better. For the both of us. You need to concentrate on yourself now and I have to change too. I’m largely at fault for all of this. I was neither a good alpha nor partner. I was unable to make you feel comfortable as omega and I’m so sorry about that. I failed to explain to you better what I was feeling. I should have talked to you more, maybe then I could have held you back taking the suppressants again. But now you decided to take them and we can’t be together like this. Both of us want something completely different and it’s just not working. A break up is better for the both of us right now.“ 

Jihoon was starting to shake. He was feeling too many emotions at the same time - fear, regret, anger, desperation. „Why are you not listening to me? I said I‘m sorry and that I love you! I can’t be without you anymore. I‘ll die!“ Soonyoung’s eyes were hard and Jihoon knew already that he had lost this battle. There was no way to change the alphas mind at this point. 

„No, you won‘t. Because you are not an omega anymore.“ The devastation Jihoon felt made him angry and he tried fighting back a final time. 

„Is that the problem? That I‘m taking the suppressants again? But you also loved me at university when I took the suppressants. Why is it suddenly a problem for you?“ Soonyoung just shook his head tiredly. 

„You understand nothing Jihoon. Please leave my office now.“ Jihoon didn’t know what to do anymore. If he would leave now, everything between them would be over. 

„Soonyoung, no. You can’t just break up with me like this. You can’t give us up that easily. We can talk...“ The alpha took a couple of steps forward and angrily shoved some things from his table, everything fell with loud clattering noises to the ground. 

Jihoon’s heart was lying down there as well, broken into tiny pieces. 

„Leave! Don’t you see that I’m barely holding on? I see you, but I can’t smell you anymore. I feel like I’m drowning, Jihoon! Please leave already!“

Soonyoung’s eyes were blown wide, anger and devastation reflecting strongly in them. Jihoon stumbled some steps backwards. He didn’t want to give up yet, but he could see that the alpha would snap any second. He needed to turn around and flee from Soonyoung’s office for both of their sakes. Before one of them would do something very ugly. 

Jihoon felt tears running over his face while he left in shock Soonyoung’s office. His lungs burned and his head was hazy. He felt a panic attack rising and he didn’t know where to go. He grabbed onto the wall to not tumble over and tried to take some calming breaths. Soonyoung couldn’t just break up with him like this. It couldn’t be true. Not here, not like this. Not when they never even had the chance of a happy relationship.

While Jihoon’s mind was in the most painful agony, he heard footsteps loudly echoing through the corridor. He looked up, his vision swimming from still crying heavily. When he saw who exactly was standing now in front of him, he started sobbing loudly. He couldn’t bear the judging look in the other’s eyes. 

„Ji, what have you done?“

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon sat down in Seungcheol’s office staring blankly ahead. He had ruined everything. He hadn’t even noticed how badly he had hurt Soonyoung continuously and now he finally made him snap. Jihoon was so afraid that he didn’t say all these things in the heat of the moment, but really broke up with him for good.

“Why are you taking the suppressants again, Ji? How did this happen? I thought you were happy with Soonyoung.” Jihoon laid his head on the table unable to look Seungcheol in the eye. 

“I thought I was happy with Soonyoung, but I fucked up everything.” The alpha sighed audibly. 

“Why are you taking the suppressants again, Ji?” The older one repeated and Jihoon swallowed heavily. Seungcheol was an alpha too, he would take Soonyoung’s side for sure. He was afraid to hear even more details on how badly he had hurt the other. Soonyoung had said that he was barely holding on, but Jihoon himself was barely holding on too. 

“I just wanted to be normal again. I wanted to make my own decisions and not be dictated constantly by my biology. I couldn’t stand it anymore.”

“Soonyoung came back this morning to work after spending your heat with you and the first thing you do is going to the hospital to get the suppressants again? Isn’t that a bit too much?” Jihoon raised his head up from the desk again, but his eyes were fixed onto his hands. 

“Did you talk with Soonyoung about it before?” The younger one still didn’t say a word, he knew now that he should have talked to Soonyoung before taking the suppressants, but he had no way to redo his actions. “Lee Jihoon, did you really not talk to Soonyoung about it?”

Jihoon finally couldn’t take the reproachful tone in Seungcheol’s voice anymore. “Yes, I didn’t talk to him about it and yes it was a mistake, but the decision to take the suppressants again was ultimately right!! I needed to do it for myself and I don’t understand why Soonyoung would immediately break up with me over it. He can’t just break up with me like this…” 

A loud sob left Jihoon, tears started running down his face again. Nothing was ever going right. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Soonyoung and him should have been happy now. There were only two things he wished for: To finally have his body and mind under control again and to be happy together with Soonyoung. Why was it impossible to have both?

„I‘m sorry to tell you this Ji, but he was right about breaking up with you. I would have done the same thing. Every alpha in the whole world would have done the same thing. You are my friend and normally I‘m always taking your side, but not this time. You went too far Jihoon.“ Another broken sob left Jihoon. 

“But he, he liked me at university as a beta too. W-why can’t it be the same now?”

Seungcheol sat down on the table close to where Jihoon was sitting and ruffled through the smaller one's hair. Jihoon triedly swatted the hand away. 

„Yes, he liked you at university while taking the suppressants, but now you were together with him as an omega. He helped you through your heat, Ji. That’s not something an alpha can forget easily. Omega and alpha fit together perfectly like two pieces of a puzzle. But you lost your form now, so you can’t connect the same way you did before. It was okay at university because Soonyoung had never seen you as omega, but he won’t be able to forget it now. Ji, I would go insane if Hannie would take these suppressants. Just imagining it makes me feel like I’m losing my mind.” Jihoon wiped the tears with the sleeve of his shirt off his face and kept on quietly listening to Seungcheol. 

“To you, your omega biology is just a bother, but to Soonyoung it is a part of you he loves. You took away what made him feel like you belonged together. Probably not just belonged together, but fated to be with each other. Soonyoung is an alpha to the core, he can’t simply slip off his biology and forget about the importance it holds to him.” Jihoon moved around nervously on the chair. His brain couldn’t process all the information Seungcheol was providing. The only thing he knew was that the longer he listened to the other, the worse he felt. 

“Is it really that bad for an alpha, hyung?” Seungcheol quietly gazed at his friend for a while before answering. 

“Ji, you have no scent anymore. It must have ripped his soul apart.” 

Jihoon felt nauseous. „Hyung, will he... he didn’t really mean it, right? I know he loves me, I could always see it in his eyes. He was just shocked and that’s why he broke up with me. He’ll take back his words right? Please tell me it was just a lie.“ Jihoon knew the answer already, but he was desperate and devastated. He didn’t want to believe that his relationship with Soonyoung was already over. 

„Sometimes you have to leave the person you love when there is no other way. Sometimes love is not enough. I know it is hard, but you both need to figure out what you want and who you really are before starting a relationship again. You’re destroying each other right now, Ji.“ 

So love wasn’t enough.

Jihoon tried remembering if Soonyoung had ever told him before that he loved him, but there wasn’t a memory like this. He probably hadn’t felt comfortable enough to say it while being insecure and hurt. Jihoon wished that he would have heard it at least once, but he probably didn’t deserve it. Everything had been wrong between them from beginning to the end. Everything went too fast, too chaotic. They never had the time to really learn what was going on in the mind of the other. They never knew what the other’s heart was yearning for deep inside.

Jihoon looked with empty eyes at the alpha sitting on the table. There was only one question left. “Soonyoung said that I have to love myself before I can love another person, but do you think he would immediately take me back if I stopped taking the suppressants?” There was pity in Seungcheol’s eyes, but Jihoon didn’t have the strength to get angry at him over it. In the end, this was all his own fault and he could blame no one else than himself. 

“Are you even ready to stop taking the suppressants? Are you ready to really live in harmony with your omega biology?” Jihoon thought about the question for a moment. In the end he came to the conclusion that he couldn’t imagine it. Nothing had changed from hours ago when he made the decision to take the suppressants again. He would need to think some more about it later, but right in this moment he couldn’t imagine coping with his omega biology again. 

“No, I’m not.” 

Seungcheol smiled weakly at him. “There you have your answer, Ji.”

It slowly dawned on Jihoon that he had irreparably destroyed Soonyoung’s and his relationship. Soonyoung wouldn’t take him back anymore now that he was taking the suppressants again. He had broken Soonyoung’s heart and his own at the same time and they wouldn’t be able to pick up the shards anymore. Both of them were broken beyond repair and not even the broken pieces of their hearts fit together because both of them were believing in different things.

“I better go now,” Jihoon said quietly and got up from the chair. Seungcheol followed him to the door and patted him on the back. 

“Don’t you want to stay for a bit longer? Where are you even planning to go?” Jihoon shrugged. 

“I don’t know. I really don’t know, hyung.” Jihoon walked out of the door and left the police station. At least for today he couldn’t stay there. He wouldn’t be able to bear meeting Soonyoung again and seeing the betrayal in the other’s eyes.

Jihoon walked aimlessly through the streets for hours, his mind completely empty. The longer he walked, the duller the colors got and the more he missed the different scents. He had been sure that he wouldn’t miss his heightened senses, but now he did after all.

Jihoon ended up in his favorite park and walked to the bench he liked the most. There was already a couple sitting on it talking happily to each other while eating ice cream. Jihoon suddenly remembered how Soonyoung had asked him with a smile on his face to go on a date. He should have said yes at that time. He should have fought his hormones a bit longer. 

He didn’t even go on a single date with Soonyoung. He couldn’t see the other smile happily while eating an ice cream, playing games in a game center, taking a walk at the beach or whatever childish and at the same time romantic stuff they would have done on their first date. He still hadn’t seen Soonyoung smile brilliantly bright like back in the days at university. He hadn’t managed to make the other happy, but only made him sad. 

Jihoon felt tears pricking at his eyes and he finally walked past the bench. He hurried to a more solitude part of the park, not wanting to see more happy people. 

He couldn’t control his thoughts anymore and everything always went back to Soonyoung. Soonyoung had given him everything he wanted, but what had he given the other? Nothing at all. He left him behind with only bad memories and that thought destroyed Jihoon. He should have done at least one nice thing for the other, but there was nothing. He should have let the older take care of him, should have bought him a present, should have made a stupid joke to make him laugh. Instead he had forced him into doing what he wanted, he had disregarded him as alpha completely and said tons of horrible things to him. Now he knew why Soonyoung had said that he would like to hear a thank you instead of a sorry. Out of love, he had let Jihoon do what he wanted and the only thing he wanted in return was the acknowledgement of his struggles and efforts. Jihoon had disregarded them completely.

Why had he been so awfully stubborn and prideful? Yes, his biology had messed with mind and yes, Soonyoung had also made mistakes, but it had been ultimately him who chose to look away from Soonyoung’s hurt feelings. He knew he had been hurting, but he thought it was okay because love could mend everything. But love wasn’t enough, not when you love someone the wrong way. This insight came too late, he wouldn’t be able to fix something that was broken completely.

Their relationship should have been forever, but it broke faster apart than it had begun.

Jihoon stopped beside a tree and sank down to his knees. The pain in his chest was mindnumbening and tears welled up in his eyes once again. He had believed that Soonyoung’s rejection weeks ago had only hurt him so badly because of his omega biology, but the pain right now was all the same. The alpha had said that he won’t die because he’s not an omega anymore, but he wasn’t too sure about that. He felt like he would stop breathing any second. And maybe that was okay because what use was breathing when his heart had stopped beating already back in Soonyoung’s office. 

Jihoon’s world came to a hold. His tomorrow had disappeared and he didn’t know where to go from here on.

This pretty much felt like dying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :( This was horrible to write. I don’t know if other authors feel the same, but this really broke my heart. I had to constantly take breaks while writing this chapter because it just made me feel super bad. I’m not sure if this chapter written sensible. I really wanted to write this chapter very nicely and emotional, but writing things like that is actually very difficult. So excuse me if it was a bit lacking.
> 
> Ultimately, this was the unpreventable result of everything. Many of you already guessed how it would turn out. Their whole relationship was toxic on so many levels that it was easy to see that it would break apart at one point. Where do we go from here now? We’ll see. But one day everything will come together again. That I can promise already. Let’s see if my heart can cope until then. And your hearts. Geez, I’m heart broken. I seriously won’t write such sad things again. It’s horrible.
> 
> I dunno, maybe I’m even the only one who feels so bad about the whole thing. Many of your were pretty much hating Jihoon already and maybe you think he deserves feeling this bad now. But for me personally as the writer, I think he couldn’t have behave any differently in the whole situation and he ultimately didn’t want to hurt Soonyoung. He did and he knows that, but he never wanted to break up with him. He thought that everything would be fine if he would go back to being a beta, but he unfortunately didn’t consider the fact that Soonyoung might be not okay with it. It’s difficult to just give up everything you believed in and have known for all your life. Even for love it’s difficult to change so fast. Of course one can change, but it needs time and Jihoon didn’t really have this time… Ahh, what am I even talking about? Am I really trying to justify my characters behavior right now? xD
> 
> I wanted to update now continuously fast because everything is just so sad and I don’t want to torture us all too long, but unfortunately I’m not in the best of moods right now, so I don’t know how fast I can update.
> 
> If you didn’t notice, I change the structure of my writing a bit. I thought already for a while about doing the formatting differently so it will be easier to read. No one ever complained about it, but in the end I thought it would be good to change it a bit, if the story becomes then easier to read. Dunno if it turned out well or not though haha
> 
> Like always, thank you very much for all the amazing things you do. For reading, giving kudos, subscribing and bookmarking this story <3 AND FOR ALL THE AMAZING COMMENTS!! Thank you, thank you, thank you. Yes, it does take an insane amount of time to write this story, but writing comments does take time too. Thank you, ILY <3
> 
> See you soon!
> 
> _____________  
[Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel)  



	32. This is the End

The next day, the sun was rising like always, Jihoon’s alarm was going off at the same time it did every day and there was work waiting for him also like it normally did. The world kept on spinning, but Jihoon’s mind was still prisoner in Soonyoung’s office listening to the alpha telling him that it would be better for them to break up.

People say, sleep about it and everything will be better in the morning. So he stayed another day at home ignoring his phone and also the ringing of the doorbell. He spent another restless night crying and rolling around in bed from one side to the other. In the end he came to the conclusion that the people who said that everything would be better after sleeping over it were all liars. No matter how many times Jihoon would sleep and then wake up in a bed without Soonyoung beside him again, it wouldn’t make things better.

Jihoon finally surrendered on the second day and got ready for work like in trance. It took him a lot longer than normally because he kept on spacing out, not remembering what he wanted to do in the first place. After tiredly putting on the first clothes he found in his wardrobe, he took his wallet, phone and keys to leave his flat. When he was right in front of the door, he was hesitating for a moment. There was this tiny bit of hope left in his deeply pained heart that Soonyoung had changed his mind and would stand in front of his door with a smile on his face telling Jihoon that everything would be alright.

When Jihoon finally opened the door, the corridor was completely empty. Just like his heart.

Jihoon nodded to himself and stepped out of the flat in acceptance. He needed to stay strong and get through this day somehow. He had been the one to decide that he wanted to take the suppressants again, so he needed to deal with the consequences now. Still, he didn’t know how to face Soonyoung later at work. He might have a breakdown and cry. 

Cry for the love of his life he had lost irretrievably.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“We were worried about you. You didn’t even call.” Jihoon didn’t know how to answer Wonwoo, but maybe an answer wasn’t even needed. He knew that they were already informed of what had happened just from the way his team was looking at him. Vernon also hadn’t been one bit surprised when he walked into the office without any scent on him. Jeonghan had told all of them or maybe it had been Seungcheol, Jihoon wasn’t sure.

“I didn’t feel well,” Jihoon said quietly while sitting down at his table. Wonwoo looked worriedly at him, but didn’t say more. Jihoon was sure his friend would want to talk with him later about what had happened. He didn’t know if he had the strength for another talk like the one with Seungcheol. He neither wanted to talk about Soonyoung and nor see him right now, but both things were unavoidable. He just wanted the pain to slightly subside before his heart would get ripped open one more time.

Jihoon felt like lying his head onto the table, but he decided against it when he heard footsteps in the corridor. He almost started laughing out loud. He would need to deal with Soonyoung a lot earlier than he had anticipated.

“Good morning everyone, I have a new case for you.” Jihoon didn’t even look at the deputy chief when he came into the office. His eyes were fixated on Soonyoung, who was standing beside the chief looking very pale. Jihoon’s heart clenched painfully at the sight. There were so many unnecessary questions in his head. Did he cry? Had he slept enough? Had he even eaten one proper meal? 

Did he miss him too?

“The deputy chief from another branch called me, they have some troubles with a difficult case and he requested some help. I thought you could do it because you are not working on a case right now.” This should be an exciting moment for Jihoon. Paperwork annoyed him and normally he would scream in joy over the news to get to work on a case again, but right now he just felt strangely empty.

“I already told them that you’ll go there as soon as possible. Officer Kwon you have all the information you need, right?” Soonyoung nodded his head and stared straight ahead. He hadn’t looked at Jihoon once.

“Maybe you can go together with him, officer Lee?” Life was a cruel joke sometimes. Jihoon couldn’t imagine anything worse than being alone with Soonyoung right now. He wasn’t ready for this.

The deputy chief looked slightly confused that he didn’t get an answer from him. “Get going now, this is an order.” Jihoon got up slowly from his seat and moved sluggishly over to the door. He didn’t dare get too close to Soonyoung, but waited till the other started walking to the car. The alpha had a paper in his hand and Jihoon was sure there was some information and the address of the other police office on it, but he wasn’t brave enough to ask Soonyoung about it. 

They quietly got into the car and the silence between them was more than just awkward - it was suffocating and heartbreaking. Jihoon felt the need to say something, but he was too afraid that his voice would tremble. He didn’t want to show how hurt he was and at the same time he didn’t want to make Soonyoung suffer even more. He was sure that Soonyoung wouldn’t take it well if he noticed how badly Jihoon was handling the situation.

Just when Jihoon was close to losing his mind because of the silence between them, Soonyoung stopped at a red light. He grabbed the wheel slightly harder and turned around to look at Jihoon. The younger one just stared ahead, unable to look the other in the eye.

“I’m sorry Jihoon. I reacted very strongly the other day. I was out of line.” Jihoon could easily read between the lines. Soonyoung was sorry that he had flipped in his office, but he ultimately wasn’t regretting the breakup.

“It’s okay. We both said things we shouldn’t have said.” Soonyoung didn’t reply and Jihoon was glad about it. Everything had been said already, there was no need to hurt each other again. They both needed to sort out their thoughts, fears and pain first. There was no way to mend their relationship at this moment.

Soonyoung stopped the car in front of an unfamiliar police station. Jihoon tried his hardest to clear his head before getting off the car finally. Work seemed to be useless right now, but he needed to overcome this mindset. He had to do his work no matter what.

As soon as they stepped foot into the police station, a petite woman was greeting them with a small smile on the lips. Her shiny black hair was styled in a pretty bob cut and her eyes had a mischievous glint in them. “You must be officer Kwon and officer Lee, right? I’m Kim Hyojin, the chief secretary. I’ll bring you to the deputy chief.”

The secretary looked curiously at Soonyoung and a happy smile spread over her pretty face. Jihoon knew that look. She was interested in Soonyoung and it unnerved Jihoon greatly. 

The small woman brought them to an office and knocked at the door before entering. The deputy chief welcomed them warmly and started explaining the case immediately. It seemed like they were short on officers at the moment and plainly overburdened with the terrible murder case.

Jihoon tried to concentrate on the words of the deputy chief, but it was difficult with the secretary still in the room looking with sparkling eyes at Soonyoung. As if the situation between them wasn’t already awkward enough, now another person had to be a bother too.

“Deputy chief, I’ll go and get the files now. Maybe one of you could help me?” The secretary looked with big eyes at Soonyoung, but Jihoon was already answering before the alpha could even say anything.

“I’ll go.” The face of the secretary fell slightly, but her smile was in place only a second later again. She led the way outside and walked into another office close by. There were two boxes standing on the table and Jihoon immediately knew that a lot of work was waiting for them.

“Everything is in these two boxes. I put a paper on top that will tell you the order of things and right under it is an explanation of the case from one of our officers. I hope you’ll be able to find the killer fast.” Jihoon nodded and went over to the table to pick up one of the boxes.

“Can I ask you a question officer Lee?” Jihoon sighed inaudibly. He wanted to say no, but that would have been very rude. “Just ask.”

“Could you maybe give me the telephone number of officer Kwon? He’s a very charming and unmated alpha. You don’t meet someone like him often.” Jihoon wanted to drop the box in his hands and just leave the police station. Anger and jealousy was clawing at his heart and the emotions were difficult to control. Unfortunately, Jihoon could understand the secretary very well. You don’t meet someone like Soonyoung that often. And if you met someone like him, you should never let him slip through your fingers.

“He’s my boyfriend,” Jihoon couldn’t control the words that were spilling out of his mouth. He couldn’t let another person get close to Soonyoung, at least not right now. It would be too hard.

“Oh, but you’re a beta?” Jihoon huffed loudly at the confused look on the woman’s face.

“I’m actually an omega, but taking suppressants.” The secretary looked shocked now. Jihoon was close to just running out of the door. Why did he need to discuss these things with a stranger?

“But why would an alpha date an omega who is taking suppressants?” Jihoon had no answer because they broke up over exactly that matter.

“That is hardly your concern.” Jihoon put the second box on top of the other and carried them out of the office without saying goodbye to the secretary. He didn’t want to hear another word from a stranger judging Soonyoung and him. He had enough on his plate already and nothing of it was easy to digest.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The drive back to the police station was just as quiet as their first drive had been this day. Though, this time it wasn’t the awkward silence that was stressing Jihoon out. The lie he had told the secretary still pulled at his mind making it impossible for him to calm down. It had been a very stupid thing to do, but he hadn’t been able to help himself in that moment. Jihoon glanced over at Soonyoung who was driving concentrately. 

“The secretary wanted to have your number. I told her that we are dating.” Soonyoung didn’t even blink hearing Jihoon’s words. 

“Why did you do that? I wouldn’t have taken her call either way.” Jihoon knew that. He knew that Soonyoung wouldn’t so easily move on from him, but he couldn’t help feeling insecure. He couldn’t stand the thought of Soonyoung finding one day someone new. He had no right to feel like this, but he couldn’t help it.

“I’m not sure why I did it. I also don’t know why I’m even telling you this.”

“Jihoon, there is actually something I need to tell you too.” The younger one turned his head around to finally look at the other. There was a strangely serious expression on his face. 

“My father pulled some strings at the National Intelligence Service. They offered me a position as profiler and I said yes.” Jihoon felt all the air getting knocked out of his lungs. After everything that happened already, this was the worst of it all. 

He wouldn’t see Soonyoung anymore. 

“That’s good for you. Congratulations. You always wanted that job,” Jihoon said in a small voice. Jihoon had felt already broken before, but now he was completely lifeless. His heart and mind was blank. He had no more tears to cry.

“It will be good if we don’t see each other anymore. You can better concentrate on yourself then. I don’t want to hurt you unnecessarily by working together with you.” Jihoon wanted to ask Soonyoung if he only took the position to get away from him, but didn’t dare to. Soonyoung had always wanted to do this job, he would be brave to assume that he was the only reason the alpha took upon the offer.

“I already told the deputy chief this morning about it. This is my last day at the police station. You’ll be the one to lead the new case.” Now Jihoon understood why the deputy chief made him go together with Soonyoung. He would be the team leader until they would find someone new. Being the team leader would have made him ecstatic only a couple of weeks ago, but now it felt just pointless to him. He was too shocked by the fact that Soonyoung would already be gone by tomorrow. Everything was too fast, too hurried, the same way their relationship had been.

“This is it then,” Jihoon said, his voice slightly cracking. 

“Yes, this is the end.” 

Jihoon turned his head around to look out of the window. Soonyoung’s words were still echoing in his mind when they returned to the police station. This was really the end and he needed to let Soonyoung go, so he could fulfill his mission in life. He never gave Soonyoung any good memories, but he could give him this. 

He would let him go for good.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Back at the police station, Soonyoung stopped in front of their open plan office. Jihoon knew immediately that he wanted to tell the team his decision to join the National Intelligence Service. Jihoon wasn’t in the mental condition to hear that Soonyoung would be leaving for a second time, so the only thing he could do was run away.

“I have to talk to Jeonghan-hyung.” The small officer turned around without waiting for an answer of the alpha and walked with a heavy heart to the secretary’s office. Jeonghan and Seungkwan were sitting at their tables quietly reading through some papers. Jihoon took a step into the room and Jeonghan looked up immediately. The smile fell from his face and only a worry was left in his eyes.

“Jihoonie, come here and sit down.” Jihoon sighed and took the chair that was standing at the side and put it beside Jeonghan’s.

“What happened?” Jeonghan really had a good intuition and must have sensed that something had happened just now. Somehow Jihoon had expected the older to ask immediately about the breakup, but he should have known that he was more sensitive than that.

“Soonyoung will leave the police station. It’s his last day here.” Jeonghan and Seungkwan both gasped hearing the news.

“But that’s ridiculous! He can’t just run away like this. You haven’t sorted out anything between you!” Jihoon chuckled quietly. It was good to have a friend like Jeonghan, who would always get angry on your behalf and protect you.

“I can’t hold him back, hyung. He always wanted to do this job. I have been nothing more than egotistical the whole time and no matter how much it hurts to be without him, I‘ll take it as my punishment. I hope he’ll be happier without me.” Jeonghan jumped up from his seat and glared at him, obviously not content with his words.

“That’s bullshit! You love each other! You can’t just let him leave like this.” Jihoon shook his head. It was funny to him how Seungcheol and Jeonghan contradicted each other so much on that topic.

“Seungcheol-hyung said that sometimes love isn’t enough…” Jihoon had even more to say than that, but Jeonghan cut him off immediately. “Why would you listen to my stupid mate?? You have to listen to me Jihoonie! You both need to properly talk to each other!”

“Hyung, I’m taking the suppressants again. There is nothing to talk about right now. You also told me to accept my omega biology, but I went against everyone’s advice and decided by myself to take the suppressants again. Now I have to live with my decision. Seungcheol-hyung said there is no way Soonyoung and I can be together right now.” Jeonghan rolled his eyes at the repeated mention of his mate.

“Jihoonie listen, yes I said that you need to accept your omega biology and I still believe it would be good for you if you would at least give it a chance, but that doesn’t mean that letting Soonyoung go without a fight makes sense. How will you two live from now on while being separated and not even seeing each other anymore? You’ll both hurt deeply.” Jihoon shrugged and leaned back in the chair. He had already made up his mind.

“Letting him go is the right thing to do. I don’t want to hurt him even more than I already did. He said to me that it’s better if I don’t have to see him anymore, so I won’t hurt so much. But I think he’s the one who’s hurting even more when seeing me, when smelling no scent on me.”

“You’re both crazy. You love each other, so you can find a solution. Maybe not immediately, but you can work on it slowly. You’re meant to be.” If they were really meant to be then things would have gone differently. His suppressants wouldn’t have failed him and Soonyoung wouldn’t have fallen in love with him as omega, but as beta. Or at least his hormones wouldn’t have gone out of control. Fate had given them too many difficulties they weren’t able to overcome.

“No, it’s too late, hyung. Everything between us broke apart. So many things happened that were out of our control and I didn’t understand him and he didn’t understand me. Maybe everything between us was bad luck or bad timing. Or maybe it was simply fate that brought us together and then thought it was funny to rip us apart again. Either way, I have to let him go. It’s the one and only thing I can do for him.” Jeonghan stomped loudly with one feet on the floor while still glaring at Jihoon. 

“You’re both so fucking stupid! I’m gonna talk to Soonyoung!” Jeonghan walked to the door, but Jihoon followed him immediately and held him back. “No, don’t! I have decided to let him go, so please respect my decision. You have no right to interfere.”

The friends stared at each other for a while, neither wanting to back down. In the end it was Jeonghan who turned around and went back to his table. “You will regret this, Jihoonie.”

Jihoon smiled weakly at the older. “Yes, I will, but there is no other way.” The officer walked out of the door, but came back a second later because he had one last question.

“Hyung, do you think I don’t love myself?” Jeonghan thought about the answer for a long while.

“You never even tried to give your original biology a chance. You are constantly hating on it, letting that hate cloud your mind and decisions. You chose to believe that being a beta was the best that life could offer you, but were you always truly happy? Can you really say confidently that you love yourself while taking the suppressants?” Jihoon stared at Jeonghan for a while and then left the office without giving an answer.

For the first time in all the years he took the suppressant, Jihoon felt like he might have lied to himself all along. Some weeks ago he had told Soonyoung that he was happy the way things were and he never wanted to stop taking the suppressants. But had he been really completely happy? His life had been marked by aggressive behavior, short lived relationships and an inferior complex towards alphas and betas. All his life it had felt like something had been missing, but he had ignored that completely.

Maybe it was time to overthink his life.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon returned home half past eight. He had been going through some of the documents of the new case throughout the day, but there was still a lot of work ahead of him.

When he turned the lights in his flat on, everything looked colder than it ever did before. Loneliness was washing over him like a freezing rain, but there was nowhere to take shelter. Soonyoung had left earlier from work without saying a final goodbye. The alpha would leave now to a place out of his sight, slowly starting to heal from all the things that had happened, but at the same time he would slowly forget about Jihoon too. It frightened him that one day they would be nothing more than strangers.

Jihoon thought back on everything that happened between them, especially the rare peaceful moments. He had believed they would be the basis for their happy relationship later, but everything had just been a mirage. It was time to let go, but parting without even saying goodbye was just too cruel. Jihoon wouldn’t be able to live with it.

Jihoon turned around and left his flat again and hurried down the corridor to ring at Soonyoung’s door. The profiler opened the door only seconds later looking surprised at his visitor.

“Can I come in for a second?” Soonyoung hesitated and Jihoon was afraid that the other would refuse letting him inside, that he would refuse a final farewell and the only thing Jihoon would forever remember was Soonyoung saying that this is the end.

Jihoon let out a deep breath when Soonyoung finally stepped aside to let him into his flat. The smaller one didn’t bother taking off his shoes and jacket, he wouldn’t be here for a long time either way. “You just vanished from the police station without a word. I wanted to say goodbye.”

Soonyoung stood in front of him, his face unreadable. Once more he wished he would be able to pick up on the other’s scent what he was feeling, but the only thing he smelt was the scent of fresh air coming into the flat through an open window. Jihoon saw boxes standing everywhere, ready to be put in a car and leave this place forever. The loneliness he felt in his heart became even stronger. Seeing Soonyoung’s flat like this made everything too real. Suddenly he was afraid of letting him go. Was there really no solution for them? No reason to be part of each other’s life anymore?

Without thinking, Jihoon took a step forward and pulled Soonyoung down into a kiss. There were so many things that felt wrong about this kiss. For a moment he thought that Soonyoung wasn’t the same anymore, but he noticed fast that the alpha wasn’t the problem. Jihoon wasn’t the same anymore because his feelings were different now while taking the suppressants. The overflowing emotions, the pull, the feeling of belonging together, they were all gone. He still felt love, but it was strangely different. It confused him.

Even worse, was the fact he couldn’t smell Soonyoung anymore. The warm scent of coffee with a fresh layer of mint that had always wrapped around him lovingly wasn’t there anymore. Jihoon noticed how distress was slowly rising up in him and it pretty much felt like back at university when Soonyoung had scented him and he lost his mind over it. This time he knew that his body was fighting the suppressants because his omega biology didn’t want to let go of the alpha who was the perfect fit for him. His biology had been cleverer than him all along.

Jihoon pulled back from Soonyoung and looked at the other with sorrow in his eyes. He wasn’t strong enough for this. He wasn’t strong enough to face his demons alone. He needed Soonyoung by his side, but he was too much of a coward to voice it out loud. The alpha seemed to sense Jihoon’s inner conflict and forced himself to smile brightly at him.

“I hope you’ll be happy Jihoon. You are the most intelligent, the strongest and the most beautiful. You‘ll do fine without me. Take care marshmallow.” Soonyoung leaned down and gave Jihoon a kiss on the forehead. 

“Goodbye Jihoonie.” He smiled a last time at him, turned around and walked into the bedroom closing the door behind him. 

This was really the end. 

Jihoon felt a single tear sliding down his cheek and he didn’t bother wiping it away. Up till the end it was Soonyoung who had been the braver and stronger one of them, who kept on consoling him even though he was in pain too. He came here to tell Soonyoung that he hoped only good things will happen to him from now on, but he couldn’t get a single word out. 

Weeks ago he had promised to be Soonyoung’s friend, so he wouldn’t be lonely anymore. He was nothing more than a big liar.

“Goodbye,” he whispered quietly into the empty room before turning around to leave Soonyoung’s flat. This was the last time he would walk through this door because every trace of Soonyoung would be gone from here soon. The couch where he had always sat on, the TV they had watched anime together on and the clock without the batteries inside would be still there, but the owner who brought this place to life wouldn’t be here anymore. Jihoon couldn’t bear the thought of all their memories together going down the drain that easily, getting washed away like the dirt on the streets on a rainy day.

Jihoon closed the door and took a deep breath. He needed to remember his decision to make it not hard on Soonyoung and just let him go. Before they started dating, Jihoon had said that he would never give up on his feelings for Soonyoung, but now these thoughts seemed to be all too selfish. Maybe if he would have behaved better, loved Soonyoung better then he would be able to cling to the other. But he had made many mistakes and sold his love as pure and complete when he had been just ignorant. He had to let him go now so he could finally do what had been his goal for many years and Jihoon himself needed to figure out what he really wanted in life and what would make him happy. 

While living as omega, he was unable to cope with all the feelings and all the needs he had, but now back to taking the suppressants, his emotions felt very much out of place. It was like being under water and he could only feel half of what he felt normally. It was suffocating.

Jihoon tried to sort out his thoughts while walking down the corridor and opening the door to his flat. Back inside, he went to the bathroom and turned on the shower. While waiting for the water to get warm, fatigue suddenly hit him and he slid down the wall and sat tiredly on the floor. The sound of water rushing down was loud in his ears and he just wanted it to stop. He wanted everything to stop.

He took out the two packages of suppressants that were stored safely in the pocket of his jeans. He stared at them in confusion, hoping to get an answer to all his troubles. He would have liked to believe that only the suppressants were at fault for the break up, but he knew it was a lot more than this. Soonyoung’s and his problems ran far deeper and they were unable to overcome them right now. They both needed to learn to think differently. 

Jihoon might be the one who had more work ahead of him. He thought everything would fall back into place when taking the suppressants again, but maybe he had just wanted to hide from dealing with his biology, hide from trying to understand it. From the very beginning on, he hadn’t given his biology a chance, but just hated it since the day he presented. He hated the fact he wasn’t an alpha and he hated that people would always judge him for his biology. In reality it had been him who had judged himself the most.

Maybe now was the time to figure out if a life with constantly taking suppressants was what he really wanted. He would only know for sure, if he gave his real biology a chance for once.

Jihoon sighed loudly and took one pill after the other out of the package and crawled over to the toilet to throw them all inside. He needed to break out of the black and white world he was living in right now and return to the colorful one. Again, he wasn’t sure if this was the right decision, but in this moment it felt like the only way to learn more about himself. 

Tomorrow all the pain of an abandoned omega would come crashing down on him, maybe making him lose his mind completely. But he actually wanted all his feelings for Soonyoung back even when it would be more painful than death. He didn’t want to be a coward anymore but stand by his real feelings. He wanted to learn more about himself and see what was at the end of it all. An omega or a beta that was taking suppressants or maybe just Jihoon, who didn’t care about gender at all.

Jihoon took a quick shower and went to the bedroom. When he turned on the lights, he remembered Soonyoung’s and his night here together. The alpha had been so good to him, but he hadn’t said a single nice word about it. Thinking back on it, he really had been horrible. But saying sorry now was of no use. He shouldn’t have done so many things to be sorry about in the first place.

Jihoon changed his clothes and lay down on the bed. He looked at the small pink plush cat on his bedside table. It was his first and his last present from Soonyoung. 

“Will you also go away one day or will you stay with me?” He asked into the silence of the room. 

Tomorrow Soonyoung would be gone and Jihoon would be left behind alone. He wasn’t sure how far he would be able to go while only clinging onto their memories. He might be able to let Soonyoung go for good, but he was sure that he wouldn’t be able to move on from the other. He would be stuck in the past, never be able to break free from the things he had done wrong. Even if he changed for the better, Soonyoung wouldn’t be there to witness it. 

Jihoon’s heart felt cold and heavy. If this breakup was the end, then they would both have a new beginning now. He hoped that Soonyoung would have the better start into a new life. He deserved it more.

“I know it’s egoistical, but if there’s some higher force out there, please let Soonyoung be happy.”

Jihoon glanced out of the window. The moon was shining more brightly than usual. He wasn’t sure if it was a miracle or a last salvation for his broken heart before he needed to start into a frightening new life.

Tomorrow, nothing would be the same anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) This is like the final part of this arc. I think I cried even more writing this chapter than the one before. Saying goodbye is even harder than breaking up it seems. So, Soonyoung is gone and they both will go their own ways for now. Let’s see where it will lead them. Next chapter is one I’m very much looking forward to writing, but also dreading a lot. It will be from a new pov and I don’t know if I can pull it off well, but I’ll give my best :D This chapter was actually also quite difficult to write. I needed to neatly explain Jihoon’s thoughts and I hope it all makes sense and it’s nice to read. This chapter is just… pretty important to the story and also to me. I normally write a chapter and then edit it. I add some lines while editing or change some stuff a bit, but in this chapter I deleted so many scenes and wrote them again. Changed things again and again and again. Just the ending I wrote 4 times new. I hope it was all worth it… no I believe it was all worth it :)
> 
> In this chapter the key point is of course that Jihoon decides to really give his omega biology a chance now, but still believes in the possibility that even then he might not like it. It’s a long process Jihoon went through and coming up with this solution in the end is a very grand thing in my eyes. From the beginning on he was fighting his biology constantly without ever giving himself a chance to quietly experience what it’s like. Hating things you experienced is all fine, that’s life. But hating things you never even really tried to give a chance is something different.  
Also the aspect that he believed to be happy, but didn’t really think about it is quite important. I think it often happens in life that when you are content enough, you overlook the bad things and fail to see that you might not be as happy as you think. Or maybe I just have a very complicated mind. Who knows haha
> 
> Sooo, soon we’ll find out how Jihoon is dealing with his decision. I’m excited :) I don’t know if everyone will be happy with the outcome, but unfortunately I can’t write a story to everyone’s liking. Which leads me to another topic...
> 
> I went through a lot with my writing lately. I felt happy and I felt sad. Mostly I felt not confident in what I did. But I like writing. I like spending my time with it and I’m very glad I picked up writing in the last year. So for myself, but also for everyone who is always supporting me fiercely, I don’t want to be sad or confused anymore. This is my story, my time and my heart and I‘ll be more confident in what I do from now on. I might be lacking as a writer and this story might contain a subject that some people don’t like, but I‘m putting in everything I can give. If you have trouble with the content of the story, then I‘m strongly advising you to stop reading my story. There are many other nice stories out there and you can’t like everything. If my story is in any way uncomfortable for you, please stop reading it for your own minds safety.
> 
> This is what I really wanted to say this time. I’ll just do what I like from now on and try do give my best. I want to spend my time happily with the things I love and there really is nothing more to it than this.  
Thank you for always supporting me and for all the nice words. I got to know so many very nice people through writing and this might be the biggest gift of all. Thank you <3
> 
> See you soon! Most probably next Saturday, with a new chapter and a bit of a new start!
> 
> PS: Sorry that my endnotes are always so long!! Why do I always have so much to say? Hahaha


	33. Worries of a Friend

Jeonghan sat at his desk staring at the wall opposite to him. Today was strangely quiet, he had a bad feeling about it. He had learned early that very quiet days at a police station were mostly the beginning of a storm. It was bothersome. He wanted to finally finish all the paperwork he couldn’t keep up with over the last two weeks, but he had the unsettling feeling that there would be a lot more paperwork coming up very soon. 

“Hyung! Hyung, hyung, hyung, hyung!!” Seungkwan stood panting in the door, eyes wide and slightly panicked. Jeonghan sighed loudly. He had been right that something would happen. He actually didn’t want to be right all the time, but somehow he always was. It was a gift and a curse at the same time.

“I’m already afraid to hear what happened,” the older one said dryly. 

“It’s Jihoon-hyung… the deputy chief is screaming at him!!” Jeonghan wasn’t surprised hearing Seungkwan’s words. He actually had been waiting for this to happen. The secretary got up from his chair and looked grimly at the clock. He had a long day ahead of him.

“Let’s go and see if we can mend things, Seungkwan.” The possibility to mend things at this point were fairly low. Jihoon had pissed off the deputy chief too much in the last weeks, but it wouldn’t hurt trying.

Jeonghan and Seungkwan hurried along the corridors and already close to their destination, the loud voice of the deputy chief could be heard.

“This is the third time now! The third time in three months! How do you explain this?” Jeonghan stepped quietly into the open plan office inspecting the situation. Jihoon’s team was sitting at their desks looking taken aback, while Jihoon himself didn’t seem to be bothered at all. He was standing in front of the deputy chief with an overly bored impression on his face, ticking the already agitated deputy chief even more off.

“Why do you ask me? Ask that officer Park. He was the one who quit.” Jeonghan was still standing in the door when he caught the eye of Jihoon finally and made some signs behind the deputy chief’s back so the younger one would calm down, but the officer only shrugged. Jihoon was really playing with fire and either he didn’t care or he was doing it with full intention.

“I asked him and he told me, I’m quoting ‘team leader Lee is a mean bastard, who can’t appreciate the hard work of others’. How do you explain that?” Jihoon rolled his eyes and went to his chair and sat down. He spinned around a couple of times before answering the deputy chief.

“He’s a loser. He couldn’t cope with the workload and he wasn’t of any help. I need someone competent for my team.” Jeonghan wanted to bang his head against the wall. This time he probably wouldn’t be able to calm down the deputy chief. He barely managed to do it the last two times the new officers of Jihoon’s team had been quitting. This time, Jihoon might have overstepped the line.

“I let you be the team leader believing you would lead your team well. Leading a team professionally also means integrating new officers without a problem into the team. All three officers were qualified to do the job. I think they weren’t the problem, but you are.” The deputy chief walked a couple of steps closer to where Jihoon was sitting, but the team leader just stared at him without answering.

Jeonghan finally stepped into the office and hurried to the deputy chief’s side. “Jihoon might have overstepped the line, but in my humble opinion, the chemistry between him and officer Park just wasn’t right.” The deputy chief chuckled lowly.

“He hates every new officer. It doesn’t matter who it is, he just doesn’t want to accept someone new into his team. Don’t think that I haven’t noticed.” There were unsaid words hanging in between what the deputy chief had said. Jeonghan was glad that his boss decided not to voice them out loud because Jihoon would have gone crazy over it. It really would have been game over then. Now Jeonghan still had the chance to solve the problem.

“Jihoon is doing well as team leader. He just needs the right person he can trust in his team.” The deputy chief gave Jeonghan a hard look.

“Why are you telling me this? He should defend himself. We are not in kindergarten here.” His boss was right, but Jihoon was just so difficult lately to deal with at work. He would ruin his whole career if given the chance to say everything that was on his mind.

Jihoon suddenly cleared his throat loudly, the annoyed glint in his eyes finally gone. “I’m sorry chief, I’ll do better next time.” The deputy chief sighed and walked to the door.

“This is the very last chance I am giving you. If you don’t accept the next officer into your team, I’ll demote you and your team will get a new team leader.” The deputy chief left the office and Jeonghan walked immediately over to Jihoon to smack him on the head.

“Why are you like this?? It’s a miracle he didn’t demote you immediately!” Jihoon shrugged and leaned back in his chair.

“Park was an idiot. I can’t work with someone like him.”

“Park wasn’t that bad. If you would have actually given him a chance, he might have done well. Either way, the next time you have to accept the new officer and you know that. You have to start living in the present and look at the future.” Jihoon made a sour face and got up from his seat.

“I’m going out to eat something. Thank you for the help, hyung. See you later.” Jeonghan grabbed Jihoon’s wrist before he could walk away.

“Let’s eat together.” Jihoon shook his head and shrugged the hand off.

“No, thank you,” the team leader said in a hard voice. 

“Jihoonie, let’s eat together! Since four weeks you are running off alone all the time, never coming to our meetups anymore. You also aren’t coming over to Cheol’s and my flat, even though you practically lived there some months ago. I’m worried about you.” Jeonghan tried to keep his voice gentle to get Jihoon to talk to him. Unfortunately the other omega didn’t seem to care about anything at the moment and just wanted to be alone.

“There is nothing to worry about.” Jihoon turned around and left behind a frustrated Jeonghan. The omega sat down on Jihoon’s chair and looked at the others eying him curiously.

“You could have helped me a bit, you know?” Jeonghan gave Wonwoo an especially hard look while saying that, but the beta looked unimpressed.

“Hyung, we all tried. We have been trying since weeks, but nothing is working and you know that. None of us understands what’s going on. He had been fine and then it was like he woke up one day and decided he wanted to be alone and unhappy.” Wonwoo was right. Jihoon had been harsh at work since he became the team leader, but he only started avoiding his friends recently. They tried everything to meet up with him and talk to him, but he even refused a simple meal during the break. Jeonghan was at a loss as to what to do with Jihoon. He might be able to help him, but he didn’t know how to do it when the other kept on refusing every talk.

“I’ll figure out something. I always do.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jeonghan sat at home after work on the couch staring blankly ahead, his thoughts still focused on Jihoon’s strange behavior. Seungcheol was sitting beside him reading through some documents quietly.

“I’m worried about Jihoon. The deputy chief almost demoted him today.” Seungcheol looked up from the papers and smiled gently at his mate.

“I heard. Ji has scared another officer away, right?” Jeonghan leaned tiredly his head on Seungcheol’s shoulder. Seungcheol’s pheromones reached out for him, but today it wasn’t enough to completely calm him down. His worry for Jihoon was just running too deep.

“We all know why he’s doing it, but no one dares to say it out loud. He can’t accept someone else than Soonyoung in his team. When it happened the first time, I could understand him. Then it happened a second time and I thought that his behavior was unprofessional, but still kind of understandable. But now it’s gotten to a point where it’s too much. Soonyoung has been gone for three months and Jihoon is the team leader now, he has to think about his team. He always thought about his work first, so seeing him acting like this is very strange.” Seungcheol laid his arm around Jeonghan and patted him on the shoulder.

“Maybe it would be better for him to get demoted. But then again, he probably would accept a new team leader even less.” The situation seemed to be hopeless. No one would be ever good enough in Jihoon’s eyes because everyone was just like a cheap replacement for Soonyoung.

“Cheol, I don’t understand what’s going on with Jihoonie anymore. He suddenly stopped taking the suppressants when Soonyoung left and never told us why. He had this bad mental breakdown when the suppressants weren’t working anymore, but he went through everything alone and never talked about it.” When the suppressants were wearing off, they had been at work. All of them had sat together for lunch and none of them had expected Jihoon to suddenly have a mental breakdown. He started crying and screaming and it wasn’t nothing like the time Soonyoung had rejected him. It had been a thousand times worse. Jeonghan had thought for a moment that Jihoon would really die right in front of him. He had never seen so much pain in anyone’s eyes before. It had been the most frightening thing he had seen in his whole life. Just remembering it again made him anxious.

They had wanted to bring him to the hospital, but Jihoon kept on refusing it, so they brought him to his flat. As soon as they were inside, the omega dragged himself to the bathroom and locked the door. He remembered looking helplessly at his mate at that time, not sure what to do. Should they break the door open or leave him alone? Seungcheol had said that they needed to trust Jihoon to handle the situation alone, but Jeonghan almost went crazy while staring worriedly at the door.

He had sat all day and night on Jihoon’s couch together with his mate waiting for Jihoon to finally open the door again. Smelling the distressed pheromones of Jihoon and hearing his friend’s broken screams and constant sobbing in the bathroom had been heartbreaking. Jeonghan was sure that on this day a piece of his own heart shattered as well. 

The next morning, Jihoon had finally opened the door. He looked physically and mentally exhausted, but his pheromones had calmed down. “Sorry, I’m fine now,” he had said in a serious voice and Jeonghan sensed immediately that it was a lie. He couldn’t be fine after everything he went through, but strangely enough Jihoon took a shower, got ready for work and behaved like nothing had happened the day before. He even laughed loudly when they sat together for lunch again.

There must have been a reason for Jihoon to change that quickly from suffering in agony to ignoring his problems completely, but Jeonghan never found out what it was. He tried to talk to Jihoon about it, but the younger omega never told him. That hadn’t been the only thing Jihoon didn’t tell him, he completely stopped talking about Soonyoung too. Whenever he tried to talk to his friend about the alpha and his feelings, Jihoon simply said that he’s alright. At one point Jeonghan gave up on trying to talk to Jihoon about Soonyoung wanting to believe that he slowly got over the other.

Giving up that talk wasn’t even that difficult when Jihoon seemed to be doing quite well. He got really interested in his omega biology and started reading up on it like a possessed person. He asked Jeongan a thousand strange questions about it and even attended courses for omegas. It made Jeonghan happy that Jihoon tried for once to really understand his biology. Actually, everything Jihoon did went beyond mere understanding. He became able to control his pheromones and emotions perfectly in a mere two months. Jeonghan wasn’t sure how that was even possible, but Jihoon pulled it off somehow. Now, it had become very hard to read any emotions on Jihoon’s pheromones, he was almost as good at controlling himself as Soonyoung was.

Jeonghan was glad to see that Jihoon was handling his biology so well now, but he wasn’t sure what the result of everything would be at the end of it all. He was still waiting for Jihoon to tell him what his decision was, if he would go back to taking the suppressant or if he wanted to live as an omega. Before he ever told him something about it, everything went down the drain and Jihoon started closing himself off completely.

“One month ago Jihoonie started becoming quiet. He talked less to all of us and refused to meet up. Now he’s either working or alone at home. You know that I tried everything to to talk to him, but nothing is ever working.“ 

“He misses Soonyoung.” Jeonghan sat up and looked at his mate sceptically.

“He hasn’t said a single word about him since their breakup. Whenever I ask him about Soonyoung, he said that he’s fine.” Seungcheol nodded his head, but Jeonghan sensed immediately that his mate wasn’t really agreeing.

“Hannie, I asked him some days ago about Soonyoung because he looked kind of down and he got really aggressive. In the beginning he busied himself with his biology, learning everything he needed to know, but now he noticed how alone he is. They are meant to be and a separation like that hurts. Neither of them will ever be able to get over it completely.” Seungcheol’s words reminded him of what he had told Jihoon shortly before Soonyoung had left. At that time Jihoon kept on arguing with all the things Seungcheol had told him, which were contradicting so much his words right now.

“Sometimes I don’t get you Cheol. You were the one who told Jihoonie that love isn’t enough and that there was no other choice than separation. Now you are saying they are meant to be? That is strange.” Seungcheol laughed lowly at Jeonghan’s harsh words.

“They needed to break up, Hannie. They needed to break up to figure out what they did wrong. If they would have stayed together, they would have lived forever in that toxic relationship, never fixing what they did wrong. Do you think Jihoon would have ever bothered trying to understand his biology without the breakup?” Jeonghan hated how his mate could turn around his words like this. Even when he didn’t seem to make sense, in the end he turned out to be right.

“No, probably not,” Jeonghan said annoyedly. “But what do we do now? I can’t stand this situation! Jihoonie is obviously not okay, but he’s not letting anyone help him!!” Seungcheol turned to Jeonghan and pulled him into a tight hug. The alphas pheromones were gently swirling around him trying to calm him down. Jeonghan sighed and hugged his mate back.

“Try talking to him again and again and again. One day he’ll tell you what is bothering him. He just needs time.” But how much more time would he need? Half a year? One year, two years? Or would it take a lifetime? Jeonghan was afraid that Jihoon would never be the same again.

Thinking about the whole miserable situation, Jeonghan remembered that there were always two people suffering from a breakup. None of them had heard from Soonyoung in three months. He had neither called or showed his face. Wonwoo had tried calling him once, but the alpha had changed his phone number. They could have visited him, but none of them had been brave enough to do that.

“Cheol, I was wondering about that for a while already… how do you think Soonyoung is doing?” Seungcheol patted Jeonghan’s back gently, but he could smell that his mates mood turned gloomy.

“I’m actually afraid to think about that.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sometimes, drastic situations needed drastic measures. Seungcheol might be right to say that Jihoon would come around sooner or later, but Jeonghan didn’t like waiting. Already as a child he didn’t like waiting and it never had gotten better when turning older.

Jeonghan had tried to distract himself from worrying about his friend by watching TV, but it wasn’t working. He wanted to talk to Jihoon. Right now. The omega turned the TV off and took his phone from the table to call Jihoon. His friend picked up after five rings.

“What is it? I’m busy.” Jeonghan could hear in Jihoon’s voice that he was lying. Jihoon believed to be very slick with his lies, but Jeonghan could always see through them. He was tempted to tell his friend just that, but his plan was another, so he brushed his annoyance about the lie aside.

“There is an emergency!! Come to our flat immediately! HURRY!” Jeonghan screamed into the phone and hung up with a smug grin on his face. Seungcheol shook his head beside him.

“Do you think that will lead to anything?” His mate asked in a playful voice.

“It won’t hurt trying.” It was ringing only a minute later at the door and Jeonghan straightened his face on the way there. Jihoon would throw a tantrum if he would greet him with a smile on the lips after screaming on the phone.

“What happened?” Jihoon asked and stormed inside the flat looking around in panic. There was a confused expression on his face when he couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary.

Jeonghan just shrugged and finally smiled at his friend. “Well, you haven’t visited us since weeks.” 

“That is not an emergency!” Jihoon’s eyes narrowed angrily, but it left Jeonghan unimpressed.

“Not talking to one of my best friends for weeks while he’s closing himself off is an emergency for me.” Jihoon looked positively livid. 

“I’m leaving!!” Jihoon said harshly and turned around to walk out of the flat, but Jeonghan was blocking his way to the door.

“No, you’re not! Not without telling me what is wrong with you and why you haven’t visited us. That’s not normal for you Jihoon!” The officer tried pushing past Jeonghan, but the older one held him by the shoulders.

“Let me go or I will hit you. Don’t think I won’t do it just because you are my hyung and friend.” Jeonghan wanted to roll his eyes at Jihoon’s antics. His friend would never hit him. He only threatened him with violence because he was feeling backed into a corner.

“Just talk to me! Why are you not visiting? Are we not good enough for the presence of the great Lee Jihoon anymore or what?” Jeonghan knew he was being manipulative, but he had no other choice. Of course that wasn’t the reason Jihoon refused to visit them, but only by saying that he would actually get a reaction out of the younger one.

“I just can’t take your awful mated scent!” Jeonghan was taken aback for a moment. He expected Jihoon to say a lot of things, but this hadn’t been one of them.

“Is it because of Soonyoung?” The omega whispered lowly and Jihoon stopped struggling against his hold suddenly. There was a strange glint in his eyes. Jeonghan wasn’t sure if it was pain or sadness or something completely different. Jihoon was guarding his emotions all too well.

“No, it’s because you are bloody annoying. Soonyoung went away three months ago. I’m over it.” Jeonghan felt offended at Jihoon’s words for a second, but knew it better than to take it to heart.

“But…” Jihoon cut his friend off at once, glaring angrily at him.

“If you don’t drop this subject immediately, I‘ll never talk to you again!” Jeonghan sighed and stepped away from Jihoon.

“Sorry. I’m sorry Jihoonie. But please, you have to understand me too. I’m just worried for you. Please go at least to our gathering on Saturday. You have to leave your flat once in a while. If you’ll come, I won’t bother you afterwards again.” Jihoon gave him another dark look and straightened out his shirt with his hands.

“Yeah, whatever. I’ll look if I have the time. I’m leaving, goodnight.” The officer finally walked past Jeonghan and left the flat. The omega turned around and sat down dramatically on the couch beside Seungcheol.

“I told you that nothing good would come out of this,” his mate said in a light voice.

“You were right, he misses Soonyoung. It’s probably not only our scent that is bothering him. Wonwoo and Mingyu are dating happily, the same as Jun and Minghao. And let’s not forget about Seungkwan and Vernon who are constantly all over each other. Seeing everyone happy like this reminds him of what he has lost. He can’t stand being alone. Shit, now I’m even more worried than before. I really don’t know how to fix that.” Afterall, the breakup had been much harder on Jihoon than he had ever let on. Soonyoung and him were a perfect fit for each other and Jeonghan had been stupid to believe when Jihoon had said he was fine. This wasn’t like the other breakups Jihoon went through. It wasn’t just someone he randomly hooked up with and ended up dating only to notice that they didn’t even like each other all that much in the first place.

His one perfect partner had broken up with him and it probably must have felt like waking up in hell. It reminded him of the fact that he had made Seungcheol feel like shit for months too. Some weeks ago when Jihoon had told him that Seungcheol had felt really bad for weeks when he didn’t reciprocate his advances in the beginning, his mind had quite frankly been a mess for a while. He had never intended to hurt the alpha so much. When he first met Seungcheol, he sensed they were made for each other right away, but Jeonghan had been stubborn at that time. He had searched for a perfect match for years already, but he only ended up in toxic relationships. When he met Seungcheol, he couldn’t believe he really was the one for him, so he took all the time he needed to accept Seungcheol’s advances. Unfortunately he had hurt the other in the process a lot.

Lucky for him that Seungcheol had never given up on him. If he wouldn’t have met Seungcheol, he would have wandered around his whole life searching for the perfect relationship, but would have never found it because he could be only happy with Seungcheol. And Jeonghan strongly believed it wasn’t only because they were a good fit as alpha and omega, they were simply a good match in character. Their biology always was a part of them, but it wasn’t the only thing defining them. It was so much more and every little thing was a perfect fit with Seungcheol. He couldn’t be happier to have found that one person who made him feel complete.

Nostalgia hit Jeonghan with full force while remembering the past. He chuckled lightly thinking back to the time he was new at the police station. Jihoon and him never talk about it anymore, but when the two of them first met, they didn’t get along well. Seungcheol had been smitten from the first moment he saw Jeonghan and that the secretary was constantly turning down his friends advances hadn’t been sitting well with Jihoon. The officer had barely talked to him for months, only glaring angrily at him. Now thinking back on it was almost funny how badly they had gotten along first. But sometimes it needed time for everything to fall into place. It had been like this with Seungcheol‘s and his relationship, but also with Jihoon’s and his friendship. 

After Seungcheol and he had finally started dating, Jihoon‘s ice cold heart towards him slowly melted and after a while he couldn’t imagine having Jihoon’s friendship not in his life anymore. He was a precious younger brother to him. He was almost part of his family, so it was difficult to bear seeing him in pain. Jihoon had always been headstrong and hardworking. Hot and cold, but also gentle and loving in his very own kind of way. He deserved to be happy. Jeonghan had hoped through all Jihoon’s failed relationships that he would soon find the right person for him. Soonyoung should have been finally the one, but their relationship had been the biggest disappointment and failure of them all. 

What should Jeonghan now hope for Jihoon‘s future? What came after true love broke apart? There was no medicine that could heal a pained heart and no magic that would make you forget that your destiny had been within your grasp. Soonyoung would forever stay in Jihoon’s heart reminding him of what could have been - a love more beautiful than life itself.

Jeonghan really didn’t know how to help Jihoon. If only the two of them would meet again and talk everything through. Maybe they could still mend their broken hearts and find back together. To Jeonghan it seemed like the only thing that would make Jihoon happy again. 

The scar Soonyoung had left behind was larger than Jeonghan could ever provide his friend comfort. The only person who could heal him was Soonyoung.

Jeonghan looked again at his mate who had a teasing smile on his lips. “What?” The omega asked irritatedly.

“I said something to you a while ago, but you were so deep in thought that you didn’t hear me.” Jeonghan rolled his eyes at his overly amused mate. 

“What did you say?” The smile on Seungcheol’s face got even wider and Jeonghan knew immediately that the teasing wouldn’t stop any time soon.

“I said, let’s wait and see. At least Jihoon will come on Saturday to our gathering. The offer to not get bothered by you for a while is too good to refuse.” Jeonghan hit the alpha lightly on the arm, but couldn’t help laughing out loud. He knew he was overbearing at times, but he loved his friends and just wanted them to be happy.

“That’s not a very nice thing to say.” Jeonghan huffed in fake annoyance and Seungcheol started laughing even louder. There was nothing better than hearing the carefree laugh of his mate. He sincerely hoped that he would never ever stop laughing like this - even if he was the one being laughed about. To Jeonghan, hearing his mate laughing was like coming home.

“But you love me either way.” Jeonghan couldn’t help smiling at Seungcheol. He was feeling the alphas pheromones pulling at him and all worries fell slowly off his shoulders.

“Yes, I do.” Seungcheol leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips.

“Maybe I can take your mind off things somehow?” The alpha asked in a teasing voice and kissed him again, this time much deeper. Jeonghan pulled away after a minute and gave him a scolding look.

“Are you trying to distract me with luring me into sex right now?” Seungcheol chuckled and leaned again closer to the omega rubbing his cheek against the other’s.

“Hmm, yeah. Is it working?” The playful glint in Seungcheol’s eyes turned into a teasing one and he started kissing slowly along Jeonghan’s throat until he reached the mating mark. He swiped his tongue lazily over it until a small moan left Jeonghan’s lips. No matter how many times his mate did that, it still hazed up his mind and his heart started beating like crazy. The bond between them made feelings overflow in Jeonghan’s chest and the love between them felt just as exciting and strong as on the day they had mated. 

Even when Jeonghan’s mind started clouding up slightly, he knew that Seungcheol was playing dirty right now, but he couldn’t be bothered. Because two could play that game.

Jeonghan pulled away from his mate and grinned at him. “You’re asking too many stupid questions.”

He got up from the couch and walked over to the bedroom. Before going inside, he stopped and turned his head around to give him a seductive smile. 

“Are you coming or what?”

Seungcheol smirked back at him and he immediately knew that he was in for a long night. Jeonghan pushed all worries aside, because there was nothing he could do for Jihoon right now. 

Tonight he would care for his mate and tomorrow, he would go back to worrying about his friend. 

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It should have been a friendly hang out like every other, but there was something in the air that didn’t sit well with Jeonghan. Something was about to happen and he wasn’t sure if it would be a good thing or a bad thing. 

Jeonghan‘s gaze fell on Wonwoo and Mingyu who were whispering to each other, both an overly fond smile on their faces. Wowoo suddenly got up and cleared his throat loudly. “Mingyu and I have something to announce. We are getting married.” Instead of loud cheering breaking out at the news, a loud shattering noise could be heard. Jihoon had let his glass slip out of his hand and it fell to the floor shattering into a thousand pieces. The omegas eyes widened and he hurriedly got down on the floor to pick up the shards.

Wonwoo’s and Mingyu’s big smiles fell off their faces at once. Jeonghan looked down beside him, where Jihoon was picking up the shards in a hurry. For once he could smell his emotions well on his scent. Jihoon was distressed. Very much.

Jeonghan got off from his chair and squatted down beside Jihoon. He took the younger one’s hands into his and stopped him from his pointless mission of picking up all the shattered glass. “Jihoonie, you’re bleeding already. Stop it.”

Jihoon’s eyes were empty. Jeonghan had expected the other to cry, but his eyes were completely dry. He looked like his soul had left his body.

“Jihoonie? Are you okay?” Jihoon shook his head a couple of times and finally got up from the floor again.

“Sorry. I… sorry. Congratulations. I’m really happy for you two.” Everyone looked worriedly at Jihoon who suddenly turned away and walked towards the restroom.

“I’ll talk to him. Don’t be angry of Jihoonie. And wow, congratulations. This was actually long overdue! We‘ll throw the biggest party ever!” Jeonghan smiled brightly at Wonwoo and Mingyu and hurried then to the bathroom. Jihoon was standing in front of a mirror and just stared at his reflection. Blood was dripping down his left hand where he had cut himself especially deep.

“Jihoonie, what’s wrong? Talk to me.” The officer’s eyes were strangely void and Jeonghan couldn’t help feeling slightly panicked.

“Hyung, I think I don’t belong here anymore.” Jeonghan took a step closer and gently laid a hand on Jihoon’s shoulder. The smaller one flinched at the touch.

“That’s not true. You’re our friend Jihoon. We want you by our side.” Jeonghan grabbed Jihoon’s shoulder a bit harder in reassurance.

“I can’t even be happy for Wonwoo and Mingyu. I’m an awful friend!” Jeonghan knew that this might be the only chance he had to get Jihoon to talk to him. He seemed to be in a very vulnerable state of mind and not as guarded as he normally was. That’s why he needed to ask the one question of importance. The one thing Jihoon really had to talk about.

“Do you miss Soonyoung?” Jeonghan asked cautiously, afraid Jihoon would flip at the question, but his reaction was very different than he expected. There was an indescribable sadness in his eyes.

“Do you think he’s happy, hyung?” Jeonghan wasn’t sure what to answer. He didn’t know what Jihoon wanted to hear. Did he want to hear that he was happy or did he want to hear that the other was probably going through the same pain as him? Jeonghan couldn’t be sure which one it was. Before the secretary could make up his mind what to answer, Jihoon already started talking again.

“Forget my question. It was stupid. I’m just having a bad day. Just forget everything I said.” The sadness in Jihoon’s eyes suddenly vanished and the omega put a wall around him again. Jeonghan didn’t like it. Jihoon had to let out all his feelings and sadness for once. Bottling up everything would break him one day.

“No, let’s talk about it some more. I’ll help you any way I can.” Jihoon shook his head at Jeonghan’s words and gave him a small smile. It was completely fake.

“I’m fine. Forget it.” Jihoon washed the blood off his hands and turned around to go back into the restaurant.

When Jeonghan arrived at their table again, Jihoon was hugging Wonwoo with a smile on his face. The distress on his pheromones was gone.

Just like Jihoon had suddenly decided to get sad, he became just as suddenly happy again. Jihoon was laughing the whole evening, talking to his friends while chucking some beer like nothing had happened before.

Jeonghan had never been more worried for Jihoon’s well being than now. Something was very wrong with his friend. If nothing would change soon, he was sure that Jihoon would either lose his mind or pull an insanely stupid stunt. 

Something needed to happen before Jihoon would destroy himself. There wasn’t much time left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) So this is probably not what most of you expected. This chapter was a bit of an interlude and might not be as interesting as most of you have anticipated. But I always wanted to write from Jeonghan’s pov and the chapter was actually necessary because of the timeskip. Without a timeskip, the story would have gotten really annoying I think. No one wants to read many chapters of Jihoon’s troubled mind. Just with this chapter we already know he very troubled. I think, the chapter must leave everyone frustrated because a lot of things are only guesses from Jeonghan. And some things he also doesn’t know and doesn’t understand, so it must have been annoying to read. But the good thing is that next chapter we’ll be back in Jihoon’s pov and get to know what is going on with him in detail. Next chapter loooots of things will happen. So you should see this chapter as the calm before the storm haha. No really, next chapter will be interesting :D I would like to say more about it, but I shouldn’t spoiler my story too much…
> 
> I’ll try to update next Saturday again! My work schedule next week pretty much sucks, so I’m not sure if I’ll be actually able to manage, but I’ll try like always! Also like always thank you for aaaaaall the really nice comments you wrote me. I felt very sorry that I made so many of you cry, but then again it also made me happy to know that my writing is actually well enough to make someone cry (beside me HAHAHA omg I cried so much myself while writing). Really thank you for all the long inspiring comments, but also every short comment and every smiley. Every reaction I get makes me happy and writing a lot easier. Thank you. Also simply thank you for still reading my never ending story and staying with me for such a long time. ILY <3
> 
> See you soon!!


	34. The Words I Couldn’t Tell You

Jihoon sat at the desk in his office. In the beginning Jihoon couldn’t stand being in this office because it reminded him too much of Soonyoung and made him remember how they broke up in this very room. But with his friends constantly nagging him, searching for answers he didn’t want to provide, he ended up closing himself off more and more in the small office. Now it was his querencia. The only place where he felt safe and calm at. Maybe because he could still feel Soonyoung’s presence here - being in this office made him forget his loneliness a little bit. Sometimes he stayed at his office until past midnight simply because he didn’t want to return to his cold flat. It was too big for him. He felt like moving into a smaller one, but he didn’t have the energy to search for another flat.

Outside of his job, he didn’t have a lot of energy to do anything. That’s why he was completely focusing on his job. It was easier living that way because if he busied his mind with work, he didn’t have to think about Soonyoung. At least that is what he kept on telling himself.

In the beginning, it hadn’t been too difficult to shove thoughts about the alpha aside. His initial breakdown had almost killed him, but afterwards he was busy with understanding his biology. He had done research for two months like an insane person, asked his friends dumb questions and even went to strange courses for omegas. It had been worthwhile to say at least. 

His hormones didn’t go out of control again and he lived in perfect harmony with his biology. He had believed before his training that his biology was controlling him, but it was actually the other way around. He learned how to manipulate his biology and senses and could close off any unwanted feelings that tried to pull at his mind perfectly. He still had certain needs and thoughts that were based on his biology, but now that he understood where they were coming from, it wasn’t a big obstacle anymore.

Thinking back on it now, it was strange for Jihoon how angry he had been about some of the things he did when his hormones were out of control. He hadn’t done anything he should feel ashamed of, everything had been perfectly fine behavior in a relationship. But the overwhelming need and the constant pull at his mind had made him afraid. He had been scared to lose control of his mind, scared he would be weak when someone took care of him. But that had ultimately nothing to do with the alpha-omega-dynamic, it was all his personal problem of not being able to let go completely and put all his trust into a relationship. He neither fully trusted himself nor Soonyoung and noticing that had been painful. He had done everything so Soonyoung would trust him, but ended up himself not trusting the other. He had been too insecure to do it. Insecure as omega, but also simply as a person. 

He really learned a lot about himself in these last few months and now he was ready to take steps forward again. His biology wasn’t what was defining him, but it was his mind, heart and decisions. The omega biology had been given to him and it was indeed a part of him. His senses and his feelings were different while taking the suppressants and at this point he wouldn’t be able to live with them anymore because he couldn’t throw his real emotions away. He was Lee Jihoon, an omega and who thought that he was weak because of that was greatly mistaken. With his new found confidence in himself and his biology he was stronger than ever.

Finally after two months he came to that conclusion, but together with it came the realization that he was still alone. While his friends were happily dating, he was sitting at home staring at his clock and the batteries lying beside it. He never put them inside again, not even after Soonyoung’s departure. There were so many small things he knew he should change, but he couldn’t bring himself to do them. Like he had predicted, he was stuck in the past with no way out. His mind and body craved Soonyoung endlessly and the only way to cope with it was busying himself with work and trying to avoid any questions about the alpha.

Jihoon sighed loudly into the quiet of the room. He was okay. As long as he could busy himself with work, he could live. Soonyoung had left him and was doing now the job he had always wanted to do. That should be everything he needed to live contently. Love wasn’t just holding onto a person, but letting go for the sake of that person had to be love as well. 

One day he would be able to forget Soonyoung. 

There was a loud knock at the door and before Jihoon could answer it, the door already opened revealing a serious looking Jeonghan. “There has been a murder. It seems like there are parallels to the victim from two weeks ago.” Jihoon gritted his teeth in annoyance. They hadn’t found the killer of the case yet and that he seemed to be a serial killer just made things worse. They needed to find him fast.

“Thank you hyung, I’ll get the others and leave immediately for the crime scene.” Jihoon took his trenchcoat, put it on and left for the other office in a hurry. 

It was time to busy his mind with work again.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon looked at the corpse in front of him, brutally murdered and thrown next to the trash in a small alley. The way the woman had been killed looked suspiciously similar to the murder case they were trying to solve at the moment. This serial killer seemed to be completely out of control when his cooling down phase was only two weeks.

Jihoon just wanted to take a step closer when he noticed a certain smell in the air. It was a scent he longed for day and night, but he wasn’t prepared for it - not here, not right now. Jihoon’s mind immediately went into full panic mood. He didn’t know if he should be scared or excited. How should he greet the other? Should he smile at him? Be casual about it?

The omega tried to breathe evenly in and out while the scent came closer and closer. He needed to calm down because this was the one moment he shouldn’t ruin.

Two persons stopped right behind Jihoon, both of them alphas, one he knew very well. The omega didn’t dare to turn around. He inhaled the calming scent of coffee and mint deeply while closing his eyes for his moment. He missed this so much. He had missed Soonyoung so very much.

“Hyung,” Jihoon heard Vernon muttering beside him and the others of his team now collectively turned around to look at the two alphas. Only Jihoon was still standing with his back turned to them, not finding the courage to look Soonyoung in the eye. He still didn’t know how to greet him after all this time.

“My name is Kim. We are from the National Intelligence Service. This is our case now. You can go.” The words let Jihoon fall out of his stupor and he turned around at once. He wanted to give a strong retort, but all words died on his lips when he saw Soonyoung for the first time in over three months. He looked tired and his eyes were completely blank while looking at a far away point, not focusing on anyone of his team.

“The wounds of the victim are looking very much like the wounds of another corpse that was found two weeks ago. We are investigating that case, which means that this is our crime scene.” Wonwoo sounded strong and calm while talking. It should have been Jihoon to answer, but he was thankful that his friend noticed his panicked mind at once.

“The victim is a high official, which means that this is our case now. This is no playfield for children. Give out some tickets for parking violations or something like that.” The rude words of the alpha made Jihoon’s blood boil. 

“Don’t talk to my team like this!” Jihoon answered with venom in his voice. He might be in a confused state of mind because of Soonyoung, but he would never let anyone talk about his team and friends like this. 

“Your team? You are the team leader? An omega like you should stay in the office or even better at home.” Anger was burning deep inside of Jihoon. He looked over at Soonyoung, but the alpha didn’t react at all. He still had the strange far away look on his face.

“I didn’t know the National Intelligence Service was hiring people who are discriminating against certain genders.” The alpha chuckled darkly at Jihoon’s words.

“I’m just stating facts. Omegas are not made for being police officers. Even less made for leading a team. Omegas should know their place and listen to what an alpha tells them. Where is your alpha officer? He’s obviously not leading you well.” Jihoon was close to punching the other straight into his face, but Wonwoo held him back at once.

“He’s not worth it, Jihoon. We’ll only get into trouble for starting a fight with the National Intelligence Service,” Wonwoo mumbled lowly into his ear. Jihoon gritted his teeth and wrestled himself out of his friend’s grip. He knew that Wonwoo was right. He would get into big trouble for hitting a higher up officer and his boss was already angry enough at him as it was. One more misbehavior and he would be demoted for sure.

“We need everything you have on the case. Kwon, you’ll talk with them about it. You’re doing nothing else than working 24/7 in your sad life either way. I need a cigarette. When I’ll come back, I want you all to be gone. This is seriously giving me a headache.” The alpha walked away and Jihoon finally felt the anger slowly dying down. He looked back at Soonyoung whose eyes were now fixating Wonwoo - he never even glanced at Jihoon.

“I’ll pick up everything you have on the previous case tomorrow morning,” Soonyoung told them in a flat voice. There weren’t any emotions in the words he spoke, in his eyes, on his scent. There was nothing that indicated what Soonyoung was thinking and feeling.

“Soonyoung, how are you? I tried to reach you, but you changed your phone number.” Wonwoo smiled gently at the alpha, but Soonyoung once again didn’t react on it. His face was still unmoving like stone.

“I hope for your cooperation. See you tomorrow.” Soonyoung turned around and walked off leaving his former team confused behind.

What had happened to Soonyoung?

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon sat on the passenger's seat of the car while Wonwoo was driving them back to the police station. The officer’s thoughts were constantly circling around what had happened not even 15 minutes ago. Soonyoung hadn’t looked well. His feelings were closed off the same way when he joined their team as leader. His eyes had been frighteningly empty.

Soonyoung should have left to lead a good life and not to turn out like this. Jihoon felt his heart tightening and his breathing becoming slightly faster. Soonyoung shouldn’t be unhappy. It was the one thing he couldn’t survive.

Jihoon started breathing heavily. He needed to get out of the car, he couldn’t take the closed off space anymore. “Let me out!” He screamed loudly and he heard a surprise gasped from the backseat.

Wonwoo looked worried at his friend and drove to the side. Jihoon immediately got off the car and stumbled over the sidewalk onto a greenfield, taking some more steps and finally tumbled over and fell onto the grass. His eyes began to water at the memory of Soonyoung’s empty eyes. Months ago he had decided to let Soonyoung go for good, so why did it hurt so much? Why was the pain never getting any better?

Jihoon saw from the corner of his eye a person kneeling down beside him, immediately taking his shaking form into his arms. “Jihoon, what’s wrong? Tell me please.” Wonwoo’s voice was soft and it should have calmed him down, but the omega barely registered the affection the other used. His mind was much too shaken up.

“I dreamed a thousand times of meeting Soonyoung again, but it never went like this. In my dreams it always played out like a fairytale, but real life is no fairytale, Wonwoo.” So many emotions were clawing at Jihoon that it was one big swirl of confusion, pain and love.

“I said I could forget him, Wonwoo. I said I was fine, but I‘m not fine at all. I never was. He’s the only person I ever want and I’m so afraid that he found someone else in the last months. Now that I met him again it’s ripping my heart apart the same way when he left me three months ago.” It was painful to say all of this out loud because the situation became too real now. The pain of being left alone, but especially the agony to see Soonyoung like a mere shadow of himself was too much to handle.

“But the worst of all is that he looks so unhappy!! Why isn’t he happy when he’s doing the job he always wanted to do? Why is he working together with this asshole and why is he alone again? That idiot said that he’s only working, so he fell back into his old habit of working while being alone. He shouldn’t be alone. I can’t bear the thought that he was all alone in the last months!” 

The thought of Soonyoung going through pain and loneliness without having a single person to talk to was like a stab into Jihoon’s heart. While he had been around his friends who had constantly worried about him, Soonyoung had worked in a toxic environment, probably not once hearing a nice word. Jihoon would have never let him go if he had known that. He thought the other would be happy with his new job, meeting some nice people there. He had been oh so wrong and he could do nothing about it at this point. He couldn’t turn back time.

Jihoon’s heart started beating even faster and his lungs slowly closed off. The thought of Soonyoung being unhappy was too painful. He felt like the thorns were pressing into his lungs telling him that his love was no beautiful rose, but just like the hurtful parts of the pretty flower. He had hurt Soonyoung too much, he had killed him. 

“I k-killed him, Wonwoo! I.. I can’t b-breathe…,” he stuttered out while he desperately gasped for air. 

Wonwoo grabbed his shoulders harder in worry. “Calm down Jihoon. Take deep breaths in and out and think about something else for a moment. You’re having a panic attack. Please, calm down.”

Jihoon wanted to scream. He felt nauseous. Everything was spinning and the world became blurred around the edges. He was sure he would lose consciousness any second, but Wonwoo kept on talking gently to him, telling him to breathe calmly in and out, so the omega forced himself to do it. He looked at his friend and thought back to their time at university. The time when they were laughing untroubled together with Soonyoung. It might have been the happiest time in his life.

Jihoon slowly calmed down and his breathing evened out again. Instead of gasping desperately for air, tears were endlessly rolling down Jihoon’s face now. He had hurt too many people. He had hurt Soonyoung, but he had hurt Wonwoo and his other friends too. He had wanted to lead a better life, become a better person and love himself better, but he forgot to care about the people around him on his road to self-discovery.

“I’m sorry, Wonwoo. When you and Mingyu announced your marriage, I behaved like an idiot.” Jihoon had wanted to apologize immediately, but he didn’t know how to do it in the last few days. He really wasn’t a good friend. Jihoon sighed and turned his head away, but Wonwoo ruffled his hair giving him a small smile.

“It’s okay. I should have told you in private. It must have been too much to take in. I know you meant no harm.” Jihoon shook his head at Wonwoo’s words. He shouldn’t be forgiven that easily.

“But you’ll only marry once. I shouldn’t have been so shocked and only thought about my own pain. You’re my best friend Wonwoo and that behavior was inexcusable.”

“It is excusable because you are my best friend, Jihoon. Don’t worry about it, okay?” The pain in Jihoon’s chest felt like a dull memory. It was still there, but it was difficult to make out what it was all about.

“It will be the first real wedding we celebrate in our group of friends. Seungcheol-hyung and Jeonghan-hyung didn’t want to have a ceremony after mating, which was a disappointment to everyone. We’ll make your wedding the best day ever.” Wonwoo chuckled at Jihoon’s words and patted the smaller one’s head, but the omega swatted the hand away in fake annoyance. Both of them laughed quietly.

“I’m sure of that, Jihoon.” 

The small officer had finally calmed down after their exchange and his tears had dried as well. Wonwoo seemed to notice it too because something shifted in his gaze and Jihoon prepared his heart for an unpleasant question. Wonwoo always looked a certain way at him when he wanted to ask him something awkward and he could easily see it right now in the other’s eyes.

„Would you want to have a ceremony after mating?“ Jihoon’s mind provided at once an image of Soonyoung putting a ring on his finger while wearing a fancy suit. His gaze was loving and his smile warmer than the sun.

Jihoon felt tears welling up in his eyes again, but pushed the wave of sadness strongly away. 

„Yes, I think I would like that.“

Jihoon thought back on the last weeks trying to cope with being left behind. Up to now he had never told his friends that it had been difficult for him. Sometimes the smallest things had hurt him. 

“You know Wonoo, every morning when I got myself a coffee it reminded me of Soonyoung. Why does he have to smell like coffee and mint? Why can’t he smell like some awful herbs? He ruined me my coffee Wonwoo and you know what coffee means to me. I even tried to start drinking tea, but I could only keep it up for three days.” Wonwoo looked slightly surprised that Jihoon suddenly started talking about Soonyoung again. Everyone had kept on trying to get him to talk for months, so hearing him say all these words now out of his free will must have been strange to Wonwoo. 

“Why did you never try to contact him? Not even after all the changes you went through? You tried so hard to change and we all know that you did it for yourself, to know more about yourself and to love yourself better. But still you can’t deny the fact that you did it for Soonyoung too. You should have looked for him after you learned to control your biology. You should have tried to talk to him and mend things instead of living somewhere between closing yourself off and faking to be okay.” 

Wonwoo was right like always. In the beginning Jihoon had thought about meeting up later with Soonyoung again, but when he finished his studies, two months had gone by and he didn’t have the courage to face Soonyoung. “I was too afraid to meet him again. He broke up with me. What right did I have to meet him again?” 

Wonwoo sighed loudly and Jihoon knew that the other thought he didn’t make any sense. He couldn’t blame Wonwoo for thinking like that because even in Jihoon’s head his own thoughts didn’t make any sense already for a long time. “But shouldn’t you at least try talking to him now?“ 

“Why should I? He neither looked at me nor said a single word to me. He probably hates me. I hate myself too. I did everything wrong.” Wonwoo made an annoyed noise and Jihoon glared at him slightly. The situation was too complicated right now, so Wonwoo should understand that this was not the time to talk.

“Speak with him! Living while self-pitying yourself doesn’t suit you. He’ll be at our police station tomorrow. This might be your last chance, Jihoon.”

Jihoon shook his head tiredly. He didn’t know how he should survive seeing Soonyoung the next day. If he would see his cold eyes one more time, his heart might freeze and stop beating forever. 

Meeting Soonyoung one more time might kill him for real.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon walked around nervously in his office. It was almost 9AM and Soonyoung could visit any time now to take the material about the case with him. Jihoon had put all files into a box already yesterday after they came back to the police station and wasn’t able to calm down since then. He had barely slept more than three hours knowing that he would see Soonyoung soon again.

After his break down the day before, Jihoon kept on refusing that he would be the one to hand over the files to Soonyoung, but his friends simply said that it was his duty as team leader. He knew that they only wanted to help, but he resented everyone many hours for it. Only when he was back in his flat staring at the cold walls of his living room, he realized that if it wouldn’t be for their meeting the next day he might never see Soonyoung again. He was too afraid to go after the alpha and Soonyoung in his current condition would most probably never look for him too. So meeting him one more time was not a burden or a step closer to death, but a final gift.

He went through many scenarios in his head how their meeting would process and the worst one was for sure that Soonyoung would just take the box and leave without saying a word. Maybe he deserved the silence of the other after hurting the alpha so much, but still he couldn’t really comprehend it. Even when they said goodbye, Soonyoung had been warm and gentle. Soonyoung had been nothing but kind and gentle to him, besides the time they broke up in his office, where the alpha had been too out of his mind because Jihoon had taken the suppressants again. That’s why it was very difficult for Jihoon to understand why Soonyoung was treating him like he wasn’t there.

Something must have happened to him, but Jihoon couldn’t figure out what. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with a reason why Soonyoung would ignore him completely. Did he really detest him now? Did his hate run so deep that he didn’t even want to look at him?

Jihoon’s phone was suddenly beeping loudly. It was the alarm he had set every day to 9PM. The omega turned the alarm off and walked back to his table and filled a glass with water. He took a package of pills out of his pants and smiled bitterly at them. He took one out and just when he wanted to swallow it, there was suddenly a loud knock at the door. Before he could say anything, the door already opened and revealed the stoic face of Kwon Soonyoung.

“I’m here to get the documents,” he said quietly. Jihoon’s heart was hurting when he heard the coldly spoken words. He immediately knew the situation would play out like his worst case scenario. Soonyoung would just take the box and leave him behind without ever knowing what he did wrong... What he did wrong on top of all the things he knew about.

Jihoon finally put the pill into his mouth and swallowed it down. He downed the glass of water and let out a deep sigh.

“They are in the box on my table.” Jihoon sat down tiredly on his chair and looked at Soonyoung. He expected the other to still look at him with these cold eyes, but to his surprise there were many emotions flickering in his gaze. The omega got even more confused when Soonyoung’s pheromones started giving off a slightly angry scent. 

“What are these tablets?” That hadn’t been a question Jihoon had expected. He didn’t want to answer it, but Soonyoung’s angry and disappointed gaze reminded him too much of the day they broke up to refuse him an answer. That’s why Jihoon simply sunk his head, eyes not meeting Soonyoung’s anymore, before answering the all too embarrassing question.

“It’s the omega pill,” Jihoon said in a small voice. It was the last thing he wanted to tell Soonyoung in the current situation. The alphas timing had been really bad coming into his office exactly at 9AM. He should have never seen him taking the pill.

“Since when do you take it?” Jihoon really wished that Soonyoung would just drop the subject already, but the alpha seemed to be dead set on knowing more about it.

“Since two months ago. I saw Jeonghan-hyung taking them and kind of thought I would maybe need them too.” 

“Why?” Jihoon’s wanted to tell the alpha to fuck off because answering that question was much too embarrassing, but instead the truth easily slipped out of Jihoon’s mouth. 

“Hyung said it’s horrible while being in heat to have sex with condoms because... because the omega wants to get filled up and the alpha also... doesn’t enjoy it with condoms. But to not get pregnant while in heat it’s either condoms or the pill.” Soonyoung walked close to Jihoon’s desk and the omega looked finally up again. Anger was still strangely distorting the other’s face. It hurt seeing Soonyoung like that.

“Why did you decide to take them?” Soonyoung’s voice was serious and had a slight harsh edge to it, but Jihoon didn’t even take it to heart because he was busy with trying to come up with an explanation. 

“I... I…” Jihoon bit his lip while his face turned slightly red. He couldn’t tell Soonyoung the truth about it. 

There was a low growl ripping out of Soonyoung’s throat when Jihoon didn’t answer his question even after waiting a long while. “You found someone else, right? You stopped taking the suppressants because you found someone else and now you want to spend your heat with that person, so you started taking the omega pill.” Jihoon felt like he got slapped into the face. All embarrassment vanished in mere seconds and was replaced by frustration and anger. Soonyoung couldn’t be seriously thinking that.

“Are you crazy? Is that the reason you were so distant? You really think I stopped taking the suppressants because I found someone else while you were gone?” Soonyoung knitted his brows together, obviously not understanding what Jihoon wanted to tell him.

“How could I ever think about someone else? Your touch is burnt into my skin, your scent is constantly lingering in my nose and the memories with you are the only thing I can think of! No matter how hard I try to live my new life well, there is one thing I‘ll never be able to do - loving another person like I love you. I tried to convince myself that I was okay and that I could forget you, but deep down I knew I would never be able to erase you from my mind.” Jihoon got up from the chair in distress and walked around the table to stand in front of Soonyoung. The frustration he felt made him bravely look straight into the other’s eyes.

“You never left your mark on me, but still I felt connected to you even when we were apart. I don’t care that others say I have to move on from the past. The truth is, even if I could do it, I don’t want to! If this love destroys me in the end, I wouldn’t care because at least I felt our connection until my very last breath.” Soonyoung’s scent shifted and he looked like he had something to say too, but Jihoon didn’t give him the chance to speak. He still had a lot more to say. For three months he had hidden away all his emotions, wishes and desires. It was finally time to let them all out.

“I went through so much when I stopped taking the suppressants. I thought that I would die for sure when you left me, but I told myself again and again to hold on. I needed to know myself and my biology better. I needed to know exactly why I couldn’t be really happy while taking the suppressants. I needed to know what’s at the end of all of it. I worked my ass off over weeks, studied everything I could and learned to control my biology. And do you know what I found at the end of it? That my biology was never the problem, but I was the problem. I was standing in the way of my own happiness. I’m okay now. I can say proudly that I‘m an omega and don’t care what others say. After figuring all of this out and my head was clearer than it had ever been, I noticed that it all didn’t make any sense because _you_ were not there. If my other half is missing, how should I be able to live? I thought my heart had broken when you left, but I had been wrong. It broke into two parts and you took one half with you three months ago. No one can live with only half a heart, I had to learn that in a painful way.”

Soonyoung was blinking rapidly. He obviously couldn’t keep up with Jihoon’s words, but the omega gave him no time to process what he was saying and just kept on talking. “Believe me, I really tried to be happy for my sake and for my friends who worried about me. Also for you, who told me to live my life happily, but it was just so hard. When I looked in the mirror, I couldn’t see myself anymore. I was so lost and didn’t know where to go. Even in this moment I don’t know what to do after you’ll leave me again. It will all start over. The pain, the loneliness and the self-pity. But what can I do? I have to endure it until I’ll fall apart.”

Jihoon was breathing slightly heavier than normal because he had said all the words in a hurry. He sputtered everything without thinking and was surprised at some of the things he had said out loud. He didn’t even dare think about a couple of these things before. He had constantly shoved away these thoughts and hid them deep in his heart. But they finally broke out of him in the one situation he should have kept his mouth shut. He never intended to tell Soonyoung all of this. He would probably pity him now and he didn’t want the other’s pity.

“Why did you never contact me?” Soonyoung finally asked after the two of them had stared at each other for a while without saying a word. The alphas voice was a lot softer than it had been when he had arrived in Jihoon’s office.

“How could I? After studying about alphas and omegas, I knew now how deeply I hurt you. I did everything wrong and I told you all these awful things. I let you go without giving you any good memories. How should I look you in the eye like this? I couldn’t do it. No matter how much I yearned for you, the only thing I could do was dreaming about you coming back to me. And I know that I shouldn’t have even done that, but I wouldn’t have been able to hold on otherwise. Taking the omega pill was just a crazy idea of my brain to deal with the loneliness. It felt like I could do at least something for you like this - taking the pill while waiting for you to come back and spend my heat with me. I haven’t told anyone about it because I know they would have told me that I’m stupid and delusional. I’m at a point where... I’m just so tired Soonyoung.”

He was really tired. His life had gone awry and he didn’t know how to live happily anymore. He had tried everything, but nothing worked. Concentrating on work was of no use, closing himself off was making things even worse and faking to be happy didn’t result in being happy. Smile and you’ll be happy someone told Jihoon once, but unfortunately it wasn’t that simple.

Jihoon gave Soonyoung a bitter smile and shook his head slightly. “Sorry, I keep on talking and talking. I’m taking up your time. You should go.”

Soonyoung didn’t get ready to leave though, but took a step closer to the omega. “When did you stop taking the suppressants?”

Jihoon shrugged at the question. “The night you left. I knew that I needed to change something in my life.” But it was pointless discussing that now. It was too late. “Just go already. You’re a busy person.”

“Are you not going to ask me how I was doing after our breakup?” Jihoon hated that question. He was too afraid to hear what had happened in Soonyoung’s life in the past months. The memory of his panic attack yesterday was still too fresh in his mind, so he was sure he couldn’t deal with the answer.

“No, because if you weren’t doing well, I wouldn’t survive it. Seeing you yesterday together with that idiot and hearing that you are doing nothing else than working was already almost too much to bear. I had promised you that you wouldn’t be alone anymore, so the thought that you are alone and unhappy is eating me alive. You can’t be unhappy. Please.” 

Jihoon had to swallow down a sobb that was threatening to leave his throat when Soonyoung’s pheromones wrapped around him trying to calm him down. He wanted nothing more than to hug the alpha tightly in that moment. Strong feelings were clawing at his heart, pulling at his mind and he started trembling slightly. Months ago he would have hated this reaction, but it was different now. Yes, his biology tried to force him into the arms of Soonyoung, but ultimately it was Jihoon who wanted it. Wanting to be close to the person you love could never be just something your biology decides for you - it’s what you heart decides for you. Jihoon’s omega biology just brought out the feelings he already had even stronger.

“Why are you not asking for a second chance?” Jihoon laughed at Soonyoung’s question and took a step back.

“I don’t deserve it,” he said quietly and looked at the clock on the table. Time was slowly running out for them. Soonyoung needed to leave.

“Isn’t there a saying that everyone deserves a second chance? You were taking the omega pill while you were waiting for me to come back to you! You told me how tired you are and how you can’t go on without me anymore, but instead of trying to talk to me, you send me away. How does that even make sense?” Jihoon gnawd on his lip for a moment. He shouldn’t overthink Soonyoung’s words too much or he would start hoping for a happy end again. He shouldn’t get his hopes up, just to have them destroyed one more time.

“It’s the right thing to do. Loving someone doesn’t mean you have to hold onto them forever. Sometimes you have to let go. So please just go and be happy.” Soonyoung chuckled darkly at Jihoon’s words.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I haven’t been happy in the last three month. Not even one day, not even a minute, not even a second. If I took half of your heart with me, then I left half of my heart here with you. Every spare minute, I could only think about you. I thought about you when I got up in the morning, when I got ready for work, on my break, on my way home and also while trying desperately to fall asleep to finally not be tortured with my feelings anymore. I did stupid things to keep my mind off of you, but nothing let me forget you. I’m tired too, Jihoon.” 

The omega was at a loss for words. This had been his biggest fear. That Soonyoung was in pain and unhappy. Jihoon was afraid to ask the other what stupid things he had done exactly because he was scared to hear even more things that would let him forget how to breathe. He didn’t feel like dying right now, but his heart certainly felt like it turned into ice.

“This is all not right. You need to go.” Jihoon could see and smell that something inside Soonyoung had snapped. Anger was burning in his eyes and his scent turned slightly unpleasant. The crisp scent of mint that normally soothed Jihoon’s mind was now a putrid smell.

“Are you a fucking idiot? Do you have a death wish? I know that you‘ll have a breakdown as soon as I‘ll leave the police station!” Jihoon was taken aback at Soonyoung’s outbreak. Still, his reaction was just as harsh as the alphas' words had been.

“You shouldn’t stay with me out of pity!” Jihoon said angrily, but instead of getting another harsh retort, Soonyoung suddenly smiled sadly at him.

“I never pitied you. Not even once. The only thing I did from the moment I met you was loving you. With sending me away you’ll kill us both. Do you want that? I’m already dead from within, Jihoon. Don’t let me leave again, please.” Jihoon’s eyes began to water. His head was spinning and his heart hurting. Of course he didn’t want the other to leave again, but the words were stuck in his throat.

“I love you, Jihoon.” The omega felt tears running over his cheeks hearing the words he had always yearned for. Hearing them finally felt completely unreal. Happiness was mixing with panic, making him lose his mind momentarily. He started bubbling nonsense he couldn’t control.

“If you don’t go now, I can’t guarantee for anything. I‘ll never let you go again then! No matter what happens, I can’t separate from you again. Never ever. Do you understand what I’m saying? Whatever shit may happen between us, I’m going to cling onto you. No matter what you say or do, I won’t let you leave. You’ll be stuck with me forever!” Soonyoung took a step closer and gently grabbed Jihoon’s arm. 

“You can have me forever. You always had me either way. Together or apart, I’m never able to let you go.” 

And suddenly, just like this, everything fell into place again. 

Why had Jihoon so stubbornly believed that Soonyoung could be only happy without him? Why did he think he could lead a good life without the alpha? It really didn’t make any sense. Afterall, they could only be happy together. Two pieces of a whole, only complete when they were together.

Not able to resist the pull anymore, Jihoon took two steps forward and hugged Soonyoung tightly, breathing in deeply the scent of coffee and mint he loved the most in this world.

“I missed you. So much,” he sobbed into the alphas shoulder and Soonyoung hugged him back, patting his back in reassurance.

“I missed you too. So much.” Jihoon just cried harder hearing the words. Everything still felt too surreal. He was afraid he would wake up any moment and Soonyoung would be gone again.

“Stop crying, Jihoonie. Why are you crying so much?” The omega tried to calm down, but noticed that he wasn’t able to do it.

“I don’t know! I can’t help it. It’s fucking annoying!” Soonyoung chuckled lowly and hugged him even tighter.

They stayed like that for a while until Jihoon finally losend his hold on Soonyoung to wiggle out of the embrace and look the alpha in the eye. “What do we do now? We can hardly just go back to where we left off.”

Soonyoung smiled at him and brushed some of the wetness off his face. “How about we go on a date for now like everyone else?”

“Right now? You want to ditch work with me?” Jihoon asked in disbelief. It was early in the morning and they both had a long day of work ahead of them.

“Is it a problem?” There was a mischievous twinkle in Soonyoung’s eyes. Jihoon hadn’t seen it in a very long time.

“That just doesn’t sound like something you would do.” Soonyoung just smiled wider at Jihoon’s words.

“Does it sound like something I would have done 10 years ago?” Now Jihoon had to laugh too. Soonyoung really was behaving like he would have 10 years ago. He liked it.

“Definitely.” Soonyoung grinned at him and grabbed his hand to pull him out of his office.

“Then things have finally come full circle. And now let’s go, Jihoonie.”

Jihoon let Soonyoung drag him out of his office, both walking hand in hand out of the police station. If the breakup was their end, then this was their beginning. This time, Jihoon would do everything to make things between them work out. He would never let the other walk away again. Their way in life was destined to be intertwined and he didn’t plan on taking another detour.

Jihoon finally stepped out of the tunnel into the light. Soonyoung had been patiently waiting there for him with a smile on his face all along. Soonyoung was his light, his home, his life. He would take good care of him now and forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) What an annoyingly long chapter!!! I think many of you expected a lot more drama, but for me at this point of this story, there had been enough drama. I didn’t want my story to turn out like these dramas that take another turn and another turn and you sit there and think “Why the hell is that angsty stuff just never ending?” and then you stop watching it because everything gets just too annoying. I really wrote enough relationship drama now for a lifetime. I thought about lengthening the angst into another chapter and make them part one more time so Jihoon could go then after Soonyoung… but it didn’t make any sense in my head. Soonyoung couldn’t leave Jihoon behind at this point. It wouldn’t have made sense given his character and biology. He wasn’t able to leave Jihoon behind another time seeing how much he was hurting and well... I’m happy. Happy that they can finally start anew again and work out how to have a normal relationship.
> 
> Some of you might be wondering what will happen in the approximately 16 chapters that are left. I actually dislike it in dramas how you can never really see what happens with a couple after they came together. It’s like “we are together now, happy ever after”. But there is so much that can happen after that and relationships are actually interesting and difficult and there is especially a lot potential in this alpha-omega-relationship Jihoon and Soonyoung could never explore. So there is still a lot that can happen :D Also Mask Kingdom had a very unsatisfying end, so I try to make up for it with Code Red haha.
> 
> I hope that what will happen from now on won’t be too boring. I have planned everything a bit more loosely from here on, so I’m excited what will be the outcome at the end. From the lose structure I made for the last arc of Code Red, it seems like chapter 50 will be the final one, but it can turn out as well even one or two chapters longer than that. We’ll see :D
> 
> Hmm, one more thing I want talk about is the title of the chapter. It actually goes both ways. It’s not only about the things Jihoon couldn’t say, but it’s also about Soonyoung telling Jihoon finally that he loves him. It was really critically in that situation because I strongly believe Jihoon wouldn’t have given up being stubborn any other way. But that might be just me and my complicated mind, making my characters feelings overly complicated LOL. Sometimes I don’t know if my own thoughts even make sense anymore...
> 
> Sorry that this chapter was a bit late because I was busy with work. Also I’m writing on the side a oneshot (that has already 7k and is nowhere near finished. Help). Next chapter will be out either next week Tuesday or Saturday. Depends on how sidetracked I’ll get with the oneshot. I secretly hope that I can finish the oneshot very soon, but that’s probably just wishful thinking :D  
Oh and the next chapter will be finally from Soonyoung’s pov again. It has been a thousand years!!!
> 
> Thank you like always for reading! And thank you for the amazing comments. Also thank you for 100 visible bookmarks. It’s a great achievement on AO3 T_T I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. ILY <3
> 
> See you soon :D


	35. The Opposite of Unhappiness

Jihoon and Soonyoung sat in silence in the alphas car, just looking at a far away point, not really focusing on anything in particular. Both of them were still preoccupied thinking about what had happened in the omegas office just a short while ago. There were too many emotions to cope with, too much joy to calm down and too much love to think straight. 

Soonyoung turned to Jihoon with a smile on his lips. One of them needed to make the beginning or they would sit in the car until it turned dark outside.

“Where do you want to go Jihoonie? Did you think about where you would like to go on a date?” Jhoon fidgeted with his fingers for a while before he turned around to look at the alpha. There was a strange seriousness in Jihoon’s eyes.

“Actually, while we were together, I only thought about all my problems. I never even once thought about where I would like to go on a date with you. Seungkwan once told me how it was strange that we were dating, but had never gone on a date, but I simply shrugged it off at that time. I didn’t deem it important enough.” It hurt Soonyoung hearing these words. He knew that Jihoon had been troubled while they were dating because of his hormones and his biology he hated so much. That’s why he shouldn’t have been surprised by Jihoon’s confession, but it hurt nevertheless. 

As soon as the pain started to twist Soonyoung’s thoughts, he strongly pushed it away. it was all in the past now. They both had changed in the last months. Going now on a date together was already proof of that. He needed to learn not to feel hurt about the past anymore.

“After we broke up, I regretted it. I regretted it so much. I should have held on for a bit longer, but I was selfish and scared. I’m really sorry for giving you all these bad memories. This time I’ll do better. I’ll love you better, Soonyoung.” The profiler grabbed Jihoon’s hand and squeezed it slightly.

“We’ll both do better from now on. You don’t have to apologize again and again. I already forgave you, so please stop it. We were both at fault. I should have never left you.” Jihoon looked like he would start crying any second again, but he obviously fought the sad feelings and won over them because no tears were spilling out of his eyes.

“Okay, let’s move on then. I don’t want to forget the past because I need to remember what I did wrong, so I won’t make the same mistakes again. Still, I’ll try to not talk about it all the time and feel guilty about it every second of my life. I have done that for three month now and if I don’t stop it, we can’t be happy. So please, don’t feel guilty too, Soon. I understand why you left. I’ve already forgiven you too.” Soonyoung nodded quietly. Jihoon was right, they needed to move on to have a healthy relationship. Endlessly blaming themselves for their breakup wasn’t leading to anything.

“So where do you want to go on this date now?”

“After we broke up, I thought a lot about where I want to go on a date because I regretted it so much that I didn’t give it any thought while we were dating. In the end I came to the conclusion that I want to have a date at the beach.” It was a particular choice for a date, but Soonyoung wasn’t surprised by it because Jihoon was everything but conventional.

“Why the beach?”

“It’s where I grew up. I feel the most comfortable there.” Soonyoung hummed lowly and thought a while about where they should go.

“Well, Busan is a bit far away. We should go there over the weekend some time. But we could make it to the next beach in approximately one and a half hours? Maybe two.” Jihoon’s eyes lit up and Soonyoung knew immediately that they didn’t need to discuss the topic any further. If Jihoon was looking that happily at him he would do what the smaller wanted either way.

“Yeah, I would like that,” Jihoon said quietly, but the contentment was obvious in his voice.

“Alright, let’s go then.” Soonyoung started the engine and drove off. When he stopped at a red light, he gazed at Jihoon who looked deadly tired. He let his pheromone flare out gently, so they would help comfort and calm down the omega. Jihoon chuckled lowly when he noticed what the alpha was doing.

“Are you trying to make me fall asleep?” Soonyoung thought for a moment about denying it, but decided fast that lying was no option.

“You look like you need it. I’ll wake you up when we’ve arrived.” Jihoon kept on happily smiling at him, which made the fear of having done something wrong melt away at once.

“I couldn’t really sleep last night because I was so nervous to see you again. I guess, I’ll take upon your offer and sleep then for a while. Thank you, Soon.”

“Sleep well, Jihoonie,” the alpha said lowly and Jihoon wiggled around in the seat for a moment to find a more comfortable position and closed his eyes.

Jihoon’s breathing was slowly evening out and his pheromones completely calmed down. He fell asleep after a few minutes. Soonyoung looked at the sleeping omega from the corner of his eye smiling at the endearing sight.

Finally, Soonyoung allowed himself to calm down too. This day had been a rollercoaster ride for the alpha. Actually not only this day, but the last few months too. Meeting Jihoon again, dating him, dealing with their toxic relationship, their breakup, the time alone that felt like a bad dream and then finally meeting the only person he could ever love again had been a constant up and down of emotions. More of them had been bad than they had been good.

Just yesterday when he met Jihoon again, he had thought that his life was over for good. In the past few months, he had been barely holding on while clinging onto the memories of Jihoon’s and his toxic relationship. The love that wasn’t meant to be had been his only consolation.

In secret, he had hoped for weeks and months that he would meet the other somehow again, but he had never expected to go one day to a crime scene and smell the scent of Jihoon already from far away. He had been in complete shock at that time not able to understand why Jihoon wasn’t taking the suppressants anymore. He had left the other because he couldn’t stand being around him while taking the suppressants, he had left him because he knew the younger one needed time to figure out what he really wanted from life and how to handle his biology.

But there he had been, working at a crime scene like nothing had happened while not being on suppressants. Soonyoung had been sure that there could be only one reason for Jihoon’s decision to not take the suppressants anymore. He had found an alpha who made him want to try living as an omega - something Soonyoung had never managed to do.

When Soonyoung had arrived with his bad excuse of a partner at the crime scene, he hadn’t been able to look at Jihoon. He had been close to losing his mind. He had felt like stepping forward and asking Jihoon who he was dating now because he wanted to rip that person’s throat out. It had been unreasonable and stupid, but it was hardly something he could control.

Without ever looking at the omega or saying a single word to him, he had turned his back on him again, walking away a second time from him. He had promised himself that he would never run away from Jihoon again if he was granted the chance to meet the other again, but he hadn’t imagined that things could turn this way.

He had felt cold and afraid, left behind alone. How had Jihoon been able to move on from him so easily? Why wasn’t he able to move on too? Why did he feel like death was the only way out now?

When he had opened the door to Jihoon’s office today, he had been sure it would be his final farewell. The last time he would see the other and maybe the last time he would be able to breathe. The sadness, the pain and fear were all running too deep. He wouldn’t be able to live without his mate. Even though they never mated, it was the only fitting description for Jihoon in Soonyoung’s mind and heart.

When he had looked at Jihoon this morning and saw him taking the omega pill, his heart had been close to stopping. It had been too much, but he couldn’t die right in front of Jihoon. His mind had told him to just take the box and leave so he could die in peace somewhere far away from Jihoon, but his alpha heart hadn’t been cooperating with him. He had been too hurt in his pride, too scared to die just yet and before he could stop himself he had started asking Jihoon all these questions getting more and more angry with the omega until the smaller one suddenly broke apart and told him every little thing he had hidden deep in his heart.

With every word Jihoon had spoken, Soonyoung’s anger died down and his heart had finally started beating again. It had been dead since the moment he left Jihoon behind, but it seemed like resurrection wasn’t just a cheap fairytale. He was glad he had gotten another chance with Jihoon and this time he would never leave him again come what may.

Soonyoung glanced again at the sleeping form of Jihoon beside him. Being here in the car together with the omega driving to the beach to have their first date still felt a dream to him. 

If this was a dream, he sincerely hoped that he would never wake up.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Jihoonie, we’ve arrived.” Soonyoung gently shook Jihoon’s arm and the younger one finally opened his eyes sleepily.

“Already? It feels like I haven’t slept all that long.” Jihoon opened the seatbelt and shook his head a couple of times to clear his still hazy mind.

“I almost drove for two hours. I had hoped you would feel a bit better now.”

“I’m fine, I’ll probably just need some fresh air and maybe a coffee. As much as I love your scent, it’s not an adequate replacement for real coffee.” Soonyoung pouted at the comment.

“So you like coffee better than my scent?”

“Only when I just woke up,” Jihoon told him teasingly and got off the car. The omega yawned loudly and looked around.

“It has been far too long that I’ve seen the sea. It’s nice.” Soonyoung remembered that Jihoon had often talked about the beach in Busan while they were studying at university. He must have been really missing it.

“What do you want to do now?”

“Take a walk. What else is there to do at a beach?” Jihoon took Soonyoung’s hand and the alphas' heart fluttered at the gesture.

They got some coffee from a vending machine and went afterwards down to the beach. They walked in silence side by side in the sand for a while. There weren’t many people around because it was in the middle of the week and it wasn’t even a popular beach spot to begin with. The wind was strong today and it was slightly cold. Just your typical autumn weather with grey clouds hanging deep in the sky. Still, Jihoon had never looked more beautiful to Soonyoung when the few warm rays of sunlight were falling on his light brown hair giving it a gentle glow.

Jihoon seemed to sense how intensely the alpha was staring at him while he was looking at the sea because he suddenly started talking. “You know Soonyoung, you were actually right. I hadn’t been ready to accept who I am at the time we broke up. I needed some time alone to learn more about myself. It had been a hard time, but it was necessary.” Jihoon had a slightly far away look in his eyes. Soonyoung was sure that the younger must be thinking about the things he went through in the last months. There was still a lot they had to talk about.

“Yeah, I know.”

“What did you do in the last three months, Soonyoung?” The alpha knew immediately what Jihoon was asking about. He had told him earlier in his office that he had done stupid things to forget him. Of course the other would be curious about it.

“I drank…” Jihoon looked at him unbelieving.

“You don’t even like alcohol that much.”

“It was worth a try, but I noticed fast that being drunk wasn’t helping me at all. I just missed you even more.” He had only lasted one week. He had thought that the alcohol would numb his senses enough to forget Jihoon, but it had made everything even worse. He had cried and threw things through his flat. It had been a horrible experience. Drinking when you were sad and alone wasn’t fun.

“There is more, right?” Soonyoung swallowed hardly at the question. Jihoon wouldn’t like what he would say now, but sooner or later he needed to tell the other.

“I went to all the blind dates my mother arranged for me.” Jihoon froze up and stopped walking. His pheromones lost some of their sweetness and they pulled strongly back from Soonyoung. It made Soonyoung’s heart ache.

“Did you… did you…” Jihoon wasn’t able to finish his sentence, his voice only a whisper. Soonyoung knew what he wanted to ask.

“No, I didn’t sleep with any of them.” Soonyoung’s words should have calmed down the smaller one a bit, but his pheromones were still dancing in distress in the air.

“I also didn’t kiss anyone, if that’s what you want to know. I only ever met a person once, talked to them and then went back home. I was sad and tired and my mother was annoying me with the blind dates, so I thought I might as well go. But I never found anyone appealing the slightest bit. I was searching for a replacement for you, but no one can replace you. Ever.” Jihoon’s pheromones shifted again and the omega strongly turned his head around glaring at Soonyoung.

“Don’t you ever dare going on a blind date again! I first kill your date and then you!” Soonyoung looked down trying to hide the smile that was tugging at his lips. He had always liked Jihoon’s blunt honesty, the same way he liked his strong personality. It didn’t bother him at all that he was behaving like an overly dominant alpha.

“You’re very ruthless, Jihoonie.” The omega gave him a big smirk.

“You don’t even know half of it. Omegas are said to be pacifistic, but there must be something wrong with my genes in that aspect. I mean it when I say that no one is allowed to touch you beside me, I would rip their head off.”

“You’re more jealous than any alpha,” Soonyoung said amusedly, but Jihoon didn’t seem to share his amusement at all.

“I don’t want to hear that coming from you after thinking that I stopped taking the suppressants because of someone else. You were obviously jealous too!”

“No, I wasn’t jealous. I was ready to die.” It was just a matter of fact. He had been ready to give up everything this morning. Alphas with a broken heart were stupid like that. They don’t feel the pain of a separation as much as an omega, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t hurting deeply too. It didn’t mean that they couldn’t die too.

“Soonyoung…,” Jihoon said quietly while looking at him with sad eyes. Soonyoung immediately regretted what he had just said. He had ruined the whole mood.

“Don’t worry about it. I was stupid for making the wrong conclusions. I should have never believed something like that, but I had been in such a dark place and it was just so difficult…” Jihoon suddenly hugged him tightly. The sweet scent of peonies and raspberry wrapped around him like a warm cloak calming him down.

“Don’t ever talk about dying again. I feel like my heart is shattering.”

“You did the same earlier though. You kept on telling me that you didn’t care if you died as long as you could still felt our connection. I think there was more. Wait, let me think about it…” Jihoon hit him strongly on the arm and Soonyoung winced slightly.

“No, stop! I get it. I’m sorry. Let’s both not talk about dying again, okay?” Soonyoung nodded and forced himself to smile again.

“This talk is depressing. A date should be fun and not depressing like this. Come on, let’s go closer to the water and watch the sea,” the alpha said while pulling JIhoon with him until the water was brushing their shoes. He smiled mischievously at the younger one and Jihoon immediately tried to get away from him, obviously sensing what the alpha wanted to do, but Soonyoung held him in a tight grip. He leaned down and splashed some of the cold water onto the omega making Jihoon squeal loudly.

“Did you just make me wet??” Jihoon asked in outrage while wiping away the water from his face.

“Well, it isn’t the first time I made you wet.” Jihoon gaped at him for a moment before finally pulling out of the alphas grip.

“Were you just making a sexual innuendo? I can’t believe you, just wait until I get you!!” Soonyoung immediately started running away laughing loudly while Jihoon tried to catch up with the alpha. When Jihoon finally caught up with him, he tackled him down and Soonyoung fell backwards onto the sand with Jihoon on top of him, both of them were laughing while panting loudly. Only when they calmed down again, they noticed the compromising situation they were in. Jihoon’s pheromones immediately flared up and he slowly leaned down to kiss Soonyoung. 

Before he could reach the other’s lips, the alpha put a hand over his mouth and stopped him.

“MHAAT AAA OUU DOONG??” Jihoon screamed against Soonyoung’s hand, but it only came out as muffled nonsense. Soonyoung chuckled in amusement and took the hand back down.

“No kiss on the first date.” Jihoon sat up in shock and looked at Soonyoung like he had grown a second head.

“You can’t be serious! I studied everything about alpha and omega etiquette, but I never heard of such a rule.” Soonyoung got up as well and Jihoon finally got off of him and sat beside the profiler in the sand.

“It’s an unwritten dating rule. It doesn’t apply to specific gender. If you really like a person, you don’t kiss on the first date.”

“But we already kissed before!” Soonyoung could understand that Jihoon was confused, but it was one of the dating rules he would never break. It would simply feel wrong to him kissing Jihoon on the first date when he loved him so very much.

“That’s beside the point. No kiss on the first date.”

“Okay, alright. When is it then okay to kiss?” Jihoon wanted to probably sound annoyed, but he just sounded very eager.

“No kiss on the first date, but it’s okay between the second and fifth date. If you don’t kiss by then, it means you don’t really like each other.” Jihoon shifted a bit closer to the alpha.

“Do you have time tomorrow? We can go on the second date then. Or we could go now somewhere else and count it as the second date.” Jihoon was in deep concentration trying to come up with a way to get a kiss as soon as possible and it was just so cute to Soonyoung.

“You’re cute.” Jihoon’s eyes narrowed slightly and Soonyoung regretted at once what he just said.

“Sorry, I know you don’t like it when someone calls you cute. It won’t happen again.” Soonyoung leaned out of instinct slightly away from Jihoon, but the omega pulled him immediately close again.

“No! Don’t be sorry. I shouldn’t have glared at you. I always hated it when someone called me cute because it made me feel like a lesser person. I’m not very tall and being called cute made me think people were just reducing me to my height, my small frame, my omega biology. But I’m over that. I am what I am and it certainly doesn’t make me angry when you call me cute. My reaction was just a reflex. I’m still working on it.” Jihoon was trying so hard for him that Soonyoung’s heart melted at once.

“You said you like cute, right Soon? So if you call me cute you’re saying that you like me.” Soonyoung took the smaller one’s face into his hands and looked at him with fond eyes.

“Jihoonie, I don’t like you only because you‘re cute.”

“I know that!! I‘m just saying that it doesn’t hurt to be cute for you once in a while.” Soonyoung started shifting around restlessly in the sand. He had told Jihoon that kissing on the first date was a no-go, but the need to kiss the other right now was overwhelming. Not only kiss him, but devour him completely, claim him forever right here. Jihoon didn’t even know what he was doing to him with his words.

Soonyoung stood up suddenly and took a couple of steps back. He needed to calm down. It was embarrassing how excited he got over these simple words. Jihoon loving him like that was the most amazing thing in the world. He could never get enough of it.

“Do you want to eat something? There seems to be a restaurant over there.” Jihoon looked into the direction Soonyoung pointed at and nodded enthusiastically. 

“I‘m actually starving. Let’s go.” This time it was Soonyoung who took the smaller one’s hand, but it was Jihoon who intertwined their fingers at once.

“So when will we go then on the next date?” The omega asked slyly. Soonyoung had to bite back a laugh at his persistent eagerness about the topic.

“How about the weekend? Saturday maybe?”

“I promised Wonwoo to meet him on Saturday, but I can probably cancel that.” It didn’t sit well with Soonyoung that Jihoon wanted to cancel his plans with Wonwoo because of him. After all, his friends were important too.

“No, don’t. How about Sunday?”

“Sunday is good. You should decide where we‘ll go.” Soonyoung couldn’t help grinning like a little kid who had just gotten a big present. There was only one place he wanted to go and from the way Jihoon looked at him in shock, he knew what he was thinking of too.

“No, wait! Don’t say it! I‘m not gonna go there! Don’t do this to me, Soon!” 

Back at university he had told Jihoon countless times that the place he wanted to have a date at was the amusement park. When he was in school, he had watched a drama where the main couple went on a date in an amusement park and it kind of stuck with him. If he ever found someone he really liked, he would take that person to the amusement park. That had always been his only wish for a date.

The problem was that Jihoon hated amusement parks. He had always said at university that they were too loud, too crowded and too childish. Maybe it really was a stupid idea. He wasn’t a child anymore.

“Okay, I‘m not gonna force you. Let’s just do what you want to do then.” Soonyoung couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice properly and Jihoon looked in panic at him.

“Fine! Fine okay, I’ll go!! Why are you so hung up on that idea since university? It’s crowded and annoying…” Soonyoung shrugged at Jihoon’s words.

“It’s something I wanted to do since school, you know that. If I’ll find a person I really like, I’ll go with them to the amusement park, but I still haven’t gone after all these years…”

“What? You never went to the amusement park?” Jihoon seemed to be seriously shocked learning that Soonyoung never went. But the explanation for it was so very simple.

“No one was like you. You were the only person I ever asked to go with me.” 

Soonyoung immediately remembered what had happened way back at university while saying this. It had been two weeks before that fateful evening when Jihoon and Soonyoung’s friendship broke completely apart. They had been studying for an upcoming exam at a coffee shop and Soonyoung still clearly remembered how distracted he had been the whole time by Jihoon’s appearance. The younger one had been wearing a white shirt that was much too big for him and kept on sliding down his shoulder constantly. Jihoon had been always pushing it back up absentmindedly, but it just slid down his pale shoulder again.

Even though Jihoon had no scent and was just like a beta because of the suppressants he took, his bare neck had made Soonyoung’s alpha blood boil. He had just liked Jihoon so much at that time and it was starting to drive him insane. He had been subtly trying to woo the other over the past few weeks, but nothing had worked on the smaller one. So, Soonyoung had finally decided that day to stop being a coward and ask him directly for a date, but when he had told Jihoon that they should go to the amusement park together, he brushed him off. He had said that Soonyoung kept on talking about going on a date there, so he should wait until he found someone he liked.

It had turned into the day Soonyoung decided to give up on Jihoon. He had been sure Jihoon’s words had been the same as a rejection because there was no way for the other to misunderstand his feelings at that time. The incident two weeks afterwards in a drunken state of mind had been something that should have never happened - because Soonyoung knew already that Jihoon would never look at him as more than a mere friend.

Soonyoung smiled sadly at the memory and focused on Jihoon again. The omega head was sunken and sadness was radiating in strong waves off of him.

“Jihoonie, are you crying again? Hey, look at me…” The younger one looked up at once, but instead of tears, there was only anger and confusion in his eyes.

“This is fucking bullshit! I hate that I didn’t go with you to the amusement park when you asked me at university! I thought you were only joking around! I… I never thought deeply about it.” Soonyoung ruffled the younger’s hair in affection.

“I know, I know. It’s okay, we can go now. I’ll buy us some cute matching headbands.” Jihoon immediately swatted Soonyoung’s hand away. Soonyoung knew that matching headbands were too much for Jihoon, but he wouldn’t back down. It was a must have item for couples in the amusement park. Jihoon could get his will with everything else, but Soonyoung wouldn’t give in with the headbands.

“Don’t you dare…,” Jihoon said annoyedly, but Soonyoung simply grabbed the other’s sleeve and looked with puppy eyes at him. The omega shrugged his hand off again, but his eyes softened considerably.

“Just buy them then! And stop looking at me like that! You can’t always look at me like that to get what you want.” Soonyoung cheered silently. He would buy the most kitchy headbands he could find, but better not tell Jihoon that right now.

“True, but I have other methods as well. Just wait and see.”

“Don’t think you are the only manipulative one here. I can win over you any time if I want.” Soonyoung knew that all too well. After all, the omega was sometimes even manipulating him without even noticing.

“I’m not doubting that at all. And now let’s go eating. I can’t risk that you starve because of me. After all, you have to go to the amusement park on the weekend.” Jihoon kicked a stone away and gave Soonyoung an indifferent look.

“For your information, I’m only going to get my kiss.” Cute. Jihoon was just too cute. And even though the other had said that it’s okay to be cute for him once in a while, he should not overstep the mark today and refrain from calling him cute again.

“Who says that we have to kiss already on the second date? The third, fourth or fifth would be fine as well. If we go every weekend, that would be in… 3 weeks?”

“Don’t joke around! You could never last three weeks. Alphas have no resistance when it comes to their omega.” Soonyoung smiled sweetly at the comment and leaned so close to Jihoon’s ear that his lips brushed the skin slightly.

“Let’s see who gives in first, honey.” Jihoon shuddered slightly and Soonyoung smiled even wider, skipping happily in the direction of the restaurant.

Jihoon was right, he had no resistance at all when it came to him, but as long as he could hold the pretense up, he would do it. Jihoon would learn soon enough how much of a fool he was for him and that he would do everything the other asked him to. One might say that a love like this was a person’s biggest weakness, but for Soonyoung it was his biggest strength. With Jihoon by his side, he could achieve anything he wanted, be anyone he wanted to be and do everything he wanted to do. Because with Jihoon by his side, he could finally be himself again.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon and Soonyoung had spent more hours at the beach after eating at the restaurant. Jihoon was the one who was doing most of the talking, telling Soonyoung what had happened in the last three months in his life. He told him about the upcoming wedding of Wonwoo and Mingyu, about Seungcheol and Jeonghan having a stupid fight and about all the incompetent officers who joined his team, but never stayed longer than three weeks. Soonyoung had been quietly listening to the younger one, only asking questions now and then.

Compared to Jihoon, Soonyoung had no interesting stories to tell because he had no remotely happy memories from his life in the past three months. But he wasn’t bothered by it because he knew that from now on good things would come his way again. He would create his very own happy stories together with Jihoon.

Soonyoung was smiling at the thought and glanced at Jihoon who was sitting beside him in the car back on their way to Seoul. He had been unusual quiet, not talking for the past hour. The silence had been comfortable in the beginning, but now Soonyoung started worrying about it.

“What are you thinking about, Jihoonie?” Soonyoung asked him quietly and Jihoon looked like he suddenly fell out of a deep trance blinking a few times.

“Soon, I’m a bit confused with all these dating rules and alpha-omega etiquette. I thought I knew all about it now, but I suddenly feel like I’ll fuck up again. It makes me nervous. I don’t want to hurt you again.” 

It was a difficult topic because it had been part of their problems before they broke up. Soonyoung could understand why Jihoon felt anxious because he was feeling insecure about certain topics too. The only thing they could do at the moment was reassuring the other that they’ll do alright.

“You’re doing just fine, Jihoonie. We’ll just have to consider the other’s feelings and talk to each other. It’s easier for me now that you’ll understand me better as alpha, but I promise you that I won’t simply forget the fact that you lived for a very long time as beta. We have to find a way to lead a relationship that we are both comfortable with. This is not a one way road.”

“I know. You said that when we broke up too. So, is what we are doing now the courting phase? Or is it dating already? I’m not sure because we were already dating before and we did things and it’s just very confusing to me.” Soonyoung wasn’t all that sure about the order of things too. He wanted a proper courting phase, but they missed the right time for that. What he was doing now was a pitiful attempt to satisfy his alpha longings, but maybe he shouldn’t make it too complicated for Jihoon.

“I guess we should just go with the flow and make things work for us somehow. This is not really a courting phase because we are both already much too emotionally involved. You’re not courting someone after you already confessed your love. Let’s just do what feels right and tell each other when we are not content with how things are going. And especially, let’s not lie to each other. Believe me that it won’t be easy for me though. I have been nothing but holding back my feelings for years, always lying when it was the easiest way to handle things. I’ll try to properly communicate with you, so you won’t feel bad about anything.”

“You’re too nice, Soon. You’re telling me all these things so I’ll feel better about myself. But I want to take away your insecurities too, you know? If it’s too hard on you to speak your mind immediately, I can wait. Just promise me that you’ll come to me later to talk about it.”

It was strange how they went from not being able to communicate right and hurting the other constantly in the process to talking to each other like this while only worrying about the other. It was the end of two extremes and they shouldn’t go too overboard with their overbearing attitude. But a new beginning was never easy, they needed to learn anew to trust the other and trust themselves. 

Still, Soonyoung was sure that this time they would find the right way together because everything felt vastly different from the first time they started dating. Their timing had been off then and their expectations hadn’t matched, there had been a too big gap to build a bridge between them. This time the gap was smaller and the bridge was already half finished. Soonyoung had no doubt that they would built the rest of the bridge without any problems together.

“Thank you, Jihoonie,” Soonyoung told the omega sincerely, but Jihoon just shook his head in response.

“No, thank you for not walking away from me today.”

“Will we keep on thanking each other now for hours?” They both laughed at Soonyoung’s question.

“We probably would, but I can already see my apartment complex, so we have no time for that anymore.” 

Soonyoung looked around and noticed that they indeed had already arrived. He drove up to the entrance and stopped the car right in front of it. Time had gone by very fast today and thinking now back on everything, Soonyoung almost couldn’t believe all the things that had happened today. Maybe tomorrow when he woke up reality would finally settle in.

“Goodnight, Jihoonie.” The omega made a slightly sour face, obviously not happy with Soonyoung telling him goodbye.

“Can you maybe stay for a bit? I don’t want to part already.” It was so difficult for Soonyoung to say no to that because he also didn’t want to part from Jihoon. But they were both in a highly emotional state of mind and he knew what would happen if he would go with Jihoon to his flat. For today they should go home alone and calm down their minds.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s already late and we both have work tomorrow. We’ll see each other soon again.” 

“Please, Soon. I don’t want to sound desperate, but I really can’t stand parting from you right now. The thought alone drives me insane. I know it’s unreasonable, but I’m afraid you won’t come back to me.” Jihoon had leaned closer to him and grabbed his arm while looking at him with pleading eyes. His pheromones were trying to pull the alpha in, convince him to stay with him. Soonyoung’s resistance was cracking slightly, but he was too afraid to give into Jihoon’s wish. They had just gotten back together this very day and he didn’t want them to do something stupid.

“I’ll come and pick the documents up tomorrow morning from your office. It’s just one night. And then we’ll go to the amusement park on Sunday. We’ll see each other now all the time, I promise. I couldn’t even stand being too long separated from you again.” Jihoon didn’t look all too happy with the alphas' words and still didn't leave the car. Instead he pulled his phone out of his pants and handed it over to Soonyoung.

“Give me your new phone number so I can at least call or message you.”

Soonyoung typed his new number into Jihoon’s phone and gave it back to him. He had changed his number right after moving away. He had been afraid to get a call and run back to Jihoon’s side at once. Weeks later he had regretted changing his number because he had cutted all contact with the only people he could call friends over the last years. He had missed everyone from his old police station. He hadn’t even known how dear they all became to him in the time working there as team leader. Sometimes you only know how much you like someone when you can’t see them anymore.

He should go back to the police station some time and talk to everyone again. He hoped they wouldn’t murder him for having hurt Jihoon - especially Jeonghan, he was a scary guy sometimes.

“Is that enough to calm you down?” Jihoon shrugged and turned away from Soonyoung.

“No, but I have to accept the situation, I guess.” Soonyoung chuckled and started taking off his jacket and put it into the omegas lap.

“It’s cold outside. Wear it. You can give it back to me tomorrow.” Jihoon blinked at him and opened his mouth, just to close it again looking slightly embarrassed. He had noticed Soonyoung’s intention faster than the alpha expected.

“I’m only taking it because it’s cold,” Jihoon said indifferently, but he still looked positively embarrassed. Soonyoung smiled widely at the smaller one and leaned slightly closer to brush his fingers against his cheek.

“Yes, of course it wouldn’t be because the jacket has my scent on it.” Jihoon swatted his hand away and glared at him.

“You’re too loud Kwon! I’m leaving!” Jihoon opened the door of the car, got off and threw the door shut with a bang. Only a second later he opened it again and peaked his head inside.

“Goodnight and sleep well, Soon.” Jihoon’s voice was quiet and his scent was sweet. It was fascinating how fast Jihoon could turn soft after being angry. Soonyoung smiled brightly at him and it felt like the right time to remind the other how important he was to him.

“I love you, Jihoonie.” The omega looked taken aback for a moment, but recovered fast. A playful smile spread over his lips while he let his head fall against the frame of the car.

“Is that something you should say on the first date?”

“It belongs more into the category of ‘going with the flow and making things work for us’.” Soonyoung smelt Jihoon’s pheromones becoming even sweeter and he was glad that the other wasn’t in the car anymore. He probably would have forgotten then all dating rules and kissed him.

“I love you too,” Jihoon said seriously and Soonyoung’s heart felt like bursting. All the trouble, all the pain they went through melted away like snow on a sunny day. He would never leave Jihoon again. He was finally were he belonged.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung woke up when his alarm went off at half past six the next morning. He couldn’t remember when he slept the last until his alarm was going off. For the past few weeks, he had woken up every night countless times and mostly gotten up far earlier than he had set his alarm. He had been constantly tired because of his insomnia, but today he felt awake and refreshed. He had the feeling that today would be a good day.

He threw the blanket off his body and jumped out of bed. He walked happily through his flat while humming a tune they had played yesterday at the restaurant Jihoon and him were eating at. He couldn’t stop smiling because he was just too happy about everything that had happened the day before. Also, he felt ecstatic to see Jihoon again very soon.

Soonyoung took a long shower and then picked out some clothes to wear. When he had finished getting dressed, he made coffee and sat down in his living room to check his phone that he had left there on the table. When he looked at his lockscreen, he saw an endless flood of messages. He unlocked his phone and scrolled through them.

**Are you awake already?** _Friday, 06:35_

**Why are you not answering? Are you playing hard to get?** _Friday, 06:38_

_Missed call Friday, 06:40_

**Are you still asleep?** _Friday, 06:42_

**Didn’t you want to pick up the documents today? You need to get up early for that!!** _Friday, 06:45_

**Answer me when you’re awake** _Friday, 06:49_

**Do you have your phone on silent mode?** _Friday, 06:51_

_Missed call Friday, 06:58_

**I miss you** _Friday, 07:01_

Soonyoung smiled at the messages on his phone. The only messages he had gotten in the last months were from his mother about the blind dates. The messages from Jihoon were so much better than them and he couldn’t imagine a better way to start off the day. As happy as Soonyoung was at that moment, he was sure that Jihoon was getting angry and anxious at this point with him, so he decided to answer at once. He thought for a moment about his answer and typed it then in quickly.

**I’ll be at your office at 8AM** _Friday, 07:12_

**I miss you too** _Friday, 07:13_

**You’re a cute marshmallow** _Friday, 07:14_

The three points that were indicating that Jihoon was typing were appearing immediately and it seemed like the other was typing a very long answer because the points never stopped moving for five minutes. The message he got in the end was surprisingly short.

**I dare you to tell me that to my face** _Friday, 07:19_

Soonyoung laughed loudly into the silence of the room.

**I have to leave now. See you soon :)** _Friday, 07:20_

The three dots weren’t showing up again, so Soonyoung put his phone into his pants and picked up his things he needed for work. When he walked to the door, he heard the quiet ping indicating that he got a message again. He got his phone out one more time and looked at the screen. 

This was indeed a good day.

**Hurry up. I love you** _Friday, 07:24_

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung knocked two times before opening the door to Jihoon’s office. The omega was sitting at his table, some papers lying in front of him. His face immediately lit up when he saw the older.

“You were fast,” he said quietly and got up to walk around the table.

“I need to go to work as soon as possible. My superior will be really pissed off because I suddenly took the day off yesterday. I shouldn’t be too late today.” Jihoon stepped close to him and reached out for Soonyoung, but pulled his hand quickly away again.

“Yes, you should hurry. I don’t want you to get in too much trouble because of me.”

“You’re worth the trouble. But say Jihoonie, where is my jacket? I can’t see it.” Jihoon’s pupils were shaking slightly hearing the question. He seemed to be desperately trying to come up with an excuse.

“Forgot it at home.”

“I thought we didn’t want to lie to each other?” Soonyoung asked him in a teasing voice and Jihoon immediately blew off.

“Kwon Soonyoung!!! That’s not a lie, but something I‘m saying to not embarrass myself!”

“Hmm, it’s not embarrassing that you want my scent around though. I want to have your scent around all the time too.” Jihoon huffed quietly, obviously not liking the fact that Soonyoung could admit something easily that was very difficult for him.

“Some omega things are still strange to me. I know it’s perfectly normal, but…”

“Take your time Jihoonie. Knowing about these things and living them is different. It will probably take some time to get used to everything. I’m not gonna rush you into accepting everything immediately.”

“Thank you. I‘m really trying, but yeah... some things just will take time.”

“Like I said, it’s completely fine. We have all the time in the world. At least in our relationship, I on the other hand need to leave for work now.” Soonyoung went to the table and picked up the box. Jihoon followed him and leaned close to the profiler. 

“Can I get a hug before you leave? Or is there also some unwritten rule that forbids that?” Soonyoung immediately put the box back on the table and hugged the smaller one tightly.

“It’s already Friday. Do you think you‘ll manage until Sunday without seeing me?” Jihoon scoffed loudly at the question.

“Of course I’ll manage.” Soonyoung ran his hand softly through Jihoon’s hair and the smaller one sighed quietly into his shoulder. 

“I don’t know if I‘ll manage though.” Jihoon didn’t say anything for a moment and Soonyoung was sure his words had been too sappy for the younger one. It came as a surprise that Jihoon was even more sappy than him.

“Don’t say things like that, I‘ll only miss you more then.” Soonyoung patted the omega on the back a few times and let go of him then.

“Since I have your scent now on me, I feel like I can survive until Sunday! I should hurry now. Take care marshmallow! Call me if you miss me!” He picked up the box and went to the door. Before opening it, he turned around and looked at Jihoon again. He needed to survive without seeing the other until Sunday, one more look at him should be allowed.

“Just go already or I‘m either gonna kiss you for being so perfect or hit you for calling me marshmallow.” Soonyoung chuckled quietly and finally left Jihoon’s office. He had to go back to hell now, but it didn’t feel as depressing as it normally did. He was much too happy that hell’s flames could burn him as badly as before. It was just work after all, nothing more.

Soonyoung shook all negatives thoughts off and headed back to his car. When he sat down in the driver seat, his phone beeped quietly. The alpha grinned while taking the phone out to read another message from Jihoon.

**You’re not gonna get your jacket back** _Friday, 08:19_

He typed in a short answer and drove off. He turned the radio on and started singing along loudly while imagining what Jihoon’s reaction to his message would be like.

**You can have my heart as well and keep it forever** _Friday, 08:20_

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung opened the door to his and his partners office and immediately heard the snarl of the other alpha who was already sitting at his table.

“You finally grace us with your presence again? How nice of you.” Soonyoung heard the sarcasm dripping from every word. Kim Manseok really had a bad character, Soonyoung had hated him from the second they met. He had woken up from the dream of finding friends at the National Intelligence Service very fast because the place was only filled with egoists wanting to climb higher up the ladder, reaching eventually a top position at the National Intelligence Service. Also, Soonyoung had learned fast as new junior agent that he was just the kid for the dirty work here and even if he worked well, in the end Kim would take all the credit for their success. The National Intelligence Service was a hellhole.

“I’m sorry. Something urgent came up, that’s why I had to hand in a day of holidays immediately.” Soonyoung looked with a straight face at his superior. Showing any emotions here was of no use, not showing them might be just as unhelpful though. No matter what he did, his superior would be always angry with him, belittling him at every chance he got.

“Do you think a simple “sorry” is enough? We needed the files, but you didn’t bring them! Something like that will better never happen again.” Soonyoung felt like talking back, but held it in and walked to his table and put the box on it. He opened it and took some files out.

“What is that scent on you? Did the omega bitch get close to you?” The files fell with a loud ‘thud’ out of Soonyoung’s hands onto the table, some papers flying to the ground.

“Never call him like that again.” The growl that ripped out of Soonyoung’s throat sounded ugly even to his own ears. An insane amount of anger flared up in him and he was close to flipping the table and then ripping the head of his superior off. No one should ever talk like that about Jihoon.

“I know that you worked at the same police station, but what the hell is your problem suddenly? You’re an alpha too, you should know that an omega like him is unfitting to be team leader. No sane person would give an omega such a job. I guess, he must have sucked a lot of dicks to get it.” Soonyoung walked around the table in a flash, tackled the other alpha down and and hardly pressed him by his throat onto the table.

“If you ever say something like that again, I’ll kill you.” Soonyoung’s mind was clouded by all the anger, he almost couldn’t hold himself back from finishing the other alpha off. Kim was in shock for a few seconds, but strongly pushed him then back and Soonyoung let him go.

“Are you crazy? No junior agent is allowed to threaten a senior agent! I’ll tell the chief agent. You’re insane!” Soonyoung laughed coldly at the words of the other.

“Yes, go and tell the chief agent. I’m very interested in what he’ll say when he hears that you are openly discriminating omegas. This hasn’t even been the first time you fucking asshole! I wanted to keep my profile low, but at this point I really just don’t care anymore. You’re a narcissist who thinks he is so much better than everyone else and the only thing you actually do is discriminate, harass and down talk people. You’re the worst of our society and a huge disturbance, so don’t fucking talk to me!” Kim looked taken aback, not knowing what to say. It wasn’t surprising given the fact that Soonyoung had barely talked to him in the last few months.

“Kwon, you’ll regret what you just said to me.” Soonyoung shrugged at Kim’s words and walked back around the table.

“I seriously doubt that. Now go to the chief and tell on me, you rat. I hope you’ll take a long time so I won’t see your ugly face for a while. Also I can finally get some work then done. I’m the only one of us working either way.” Kim walked angrily away and Soonyoung sat in annoyance down on his chair. Never in his whole life he had talked like this to a superior, but he didn’t regret it. If he would get fired, he would even be happy about it. This work should have freed him from the shackles his father had given him and made him finally find peace. Instead, every day here had been pure agony.

He had felt like giving up so very often. There had been no reason to keep on going. He had been alone, sad and tired. He hated his job and he had hated his whole life every single day.

But now he was okay again. Even if he would lose his job, he would still have Jihoon. He could find another job somewhere else. Maybe it was time to not try so hard for the sake of his father anymore, but finally start living his own life the way he wanted - bright and content, surrounded by his love and friends and in a working environment he actually liked.

He had walked down the road of unhappiness his father had prepared for him for a long time, but now he needed to take a turn and see if he could find happiness on another road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) Writing this chapter had been at first slightly strange to me because my motivation after the last chapter went a bit down. It’s the point where most stories are ending or only having an epilogue to wrap everything up afterwards. I suddenly wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to keep on writing this story for many more weeks. Would I be happy with it? Would the readers even be interested? So instead of writing Code Red, I concentrated for a while on writing this oneshot I‘m working on and I‘m struggling endlessly with it because it’s difficult to get a feeling for new characters and even more difficult to do that with a very limited word count. As much as you try, characters in a oneshot are just very flat. The piece I‘m working on is just a fun little piece with a high rating, so I guess for a short amusement it’s okay. But what I actually wanted to say is that one evening I suddenly went back to writing Code Red and it comes so much easier to me than the oneshot I‘m writing and it feels a lot more fulfilling. It feels like writing a story of my friends at this points. Even when I have no real plan what exactly I want to write, as soon as I sit down and start, the ideas pop up without much thought. I guess, writing like this is only possible when you write a story for a long time. So I neither regret making Code Red this long nor regret making Code Red even longer. Writing Code Red is just a lot of fun for me and has become part of my life somehow. I‘ll probably cry when it’s over hahaha. The only thing I can do then is writing another very, very long story xD It’s just what I love the most.
> 
> Otherwise, this turned into a chapter I really like. I can’t even explain why. The dynamic is just very nice and there are some pretty cute scenes, The heaviness of Code Red is now finally fading away and it feels pretty good. Also I enjoyed writing from Soonyoung’s pov after a long time again. It has been long overdue!  
I think you all know by now that I have lots of prewritten stuff that I’m including then in the chapter. I had just a bit prewritten for this chapter, but I didn’t use anything of it because it wasn’t all that fitting in the end. So writing this chapter took quite a while. It’s the longest I wrote up to know with 9k words. I actually thought I could put even more into it, but I got so many plot ideas while writing that it would have been insanity to make it even longer.. Also fun fact, I wrote the last scene of the chapter first :D And I liked how it ended, so I kept it as ending. Ahhh, lately the plot is really running away with me. I included so many small stories here that I didn't plan before. But these small stories are maybe the most interesting of it all. So I shouldn’t feel bothered by it.  
Actually I never planned this whole amusement park thing. But given Soonyoung’s persona at university, it was very fitting and since he kind of wants to start anew were he left of at university… so it was just the thing I needed for this story. I could have never came up with something like that when I first started writing Code Red because I imagined Soonyoung’s and Jihoon’s relationship slightly different then. I don’t really know how it happened, but they are very much more in love than I planned on and it’s insanely kitchy hahaha. Like I said countless of times already, I’m not very good with fluff content, but it isn’t all that difficult for me here. Maybe because I put Soonyoung and Jihoon through so much and I feel like they deserve the happiness now… here I go again, talking about my characters like they are real people xD
> 
> Like always, thank you very much for reading Code Red and going this long way with me. Is it already 7 months now? Thank you for your comments and encouraging words. Thank you for giving kudos to Code Red and bookmarking it.  
A really nice person drew once scene of Code Red from the last chapter really nicely and I want to say thank you for that again. I have now two nice drawings of Code Red on my wall. If I could, I would hang my whole wall with such drawings xD I really like drawings, paintings and comics. Years back before I went to university, I was really good at drawing too. I regret dropping it at that time. But well, I’ll just write now. It’s nice too. Though I reeeally would like to do some cute Code Red illustration and make it into into a keyholder or something. Yes, I’m a freak like that lol. But well, I have no time to pick up drawing again, so I’ll just forget about it hahaha
> 
> I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! I’ll be back with the next update hopefully next Saturday! See you soon <3
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel) for updates on Code Red and other not very interesting content :D
> 
> P.S.: Sorry for the unreasonable long endnote  
P.S.2: JIHOON AND SOONYOUNG ARE DISGUSTINGLY CUTE! BYE!


	36. The Things We Do for Love

Jihoon wanted to stop smiling. He really did, but no matter how hard he tried, the smile seemed to be frozen on his face. It didn’t make things better that he kept on tapping on his phone every time the screen turned black to see the latest message of Soonyoung again. “You can have my heart as well and keep it forever” was the cheesiest line he had ever heard, so why was he smiling like he got beaten on the head repeatedly and lost his mind in the process? There was only one explanation: Jihoon was more in love than he thought was humanly possible. He was a lost cause, utterly disgustingly in love with no chance of finding a cure for it. Somehow he didn’t mind the fact that he might love Soonyoung more than life itself.

Jihoon picked the phone up from the table to finally write an answer, but everything he could think about was embarrassingly foolish. He stared at the phone in concentration when the door suddenly flew open and revealed an agitated Yoon Jeonghan.

“Jihoonie!! Where were you yesterday? Why didn’t you answer my calls and messages? Why is Soonyoung’s scent all over the office? What happened here??” Jeonghan’s scent gave away that he wasn’t only angry but worried as well. Jihoon felt bad now for not answering anyone’s messages and calls besides the one from Soonyoung. He didn’t know how to explain in short what had happened, so he chose to ignore everyone for a while.

“Which question should I answer first?” Jihoon deadpanned and got up from his chair to pick up two glasses and some water. He gestured to Jeonghan to sit down and poured them both a glass of water.

“What happened between you and Soonyoung? I was worried something awful might have happened between you. I rushed here as soon as I arrived at the police station.”

When Soonyoung was involved, Jihoon kept on forgetting everyone else. He really should not do that. He kept on making his friends worry even though they were so very important to him.

“I’m sorry hyung. I should have at least written to you that I’m fine. I simply didn’t know how to explain what happened in short.”

Jeonghan sighed loudly and the anger and worry on his scent slowly faded away. “It’s okay, just tell me what happened,” the taller omega said quietly and sat down on the chair in front of Jihoon’s desk.

“Soonyoung came into my office to pick up the files about the case and he stepped inside right at the moment I was taking the omega pill…” Jeonghan gasped loudly hearing that, making Jihoon stop his sentence at once. “You are taking what??” 

Jihoon felt his face heating up dangerously. He had totally forgotten that he wanted to keep that information secret. The happiness of having Soonyoung back in his life must have clouded his mind.

“Well, I thought it’s… it’s reasonable to take it. I would need it sooner or later and…”

“Jihoonie, you don’t need to take the omega pill when you are not seeing an alpha.” That was exactly why he hadn’t wanted to tell any of his friends. No one would have understood his despaired and confused reasoning. Also, he never had been in the right mind to talk about it.

“I know, okay? But it made me feel better about the whole situation. I could trick myself into thinking that I was doing it because Soonyoung would come back to me one day. It was easier like that.”

“Why did you never tell me?”

A pained smile tugging at Jihoon’s lips. The situations had been too complicated, too difficult to handle. He couldn’t even put it into words why he had kept quiet for all these months.

“I just couldn’t. It was too painful for me.” 

Jeonghan nodded his head, seemingly understanding that Jihoon wasn’t able to talk about it. “So what happened then?”

“Soonyoung got suddenly angry at me telling me that I stopped taking the suppressants because of another alpha and that I’m taking the omega pill because I want to spend my heat with them. Do you know what a big blow that was to me? I was constantly in pain because I missed Soonyoung so much and he really thought I easily forgot him. It made me so angry that I kind of poured all my feelings out, telling him every little thing I kept hidden deep in my heart for the last months.”

Jihoon laughed quietly at the memory. He had been so angry at Soonyoung for coming to his office at the time he took the omega pill, but now he was glad everything had happened like that. If Soonyoung hadn’t been so agitated and snapped at him, Jihoon might have never poured his heart out and they might have gone separate ways again forever being unhappy and in pain. Maybe taking the omega pill had been the best decision of his life.

“I wanted him to leave, but he refused and told me that he had been hurting too and that he didn’t want to leave again and that… that he loved me.” Jihoon noticed that his ears became hot while saying the last part. The tips of his ears were probably bright red.

“Thank god, I was close to going crazy with your behavior lately. I had been so worried about you, Jihoonie. Seriously, this almost feels as good as Seungcheol asking me to mate with him.” 

Jihoon scoffed loudly. “Don’t tell that hyung, he’ll go crazy.” 

Jeonghan grinned and waved him off. “It’s okay, a bit of jealousy works wonders on alphas, you know? Cheol is super jealous at times, it’s fun. Jealous sex is really good.”

“Yeah, thanks for the information,” Jihoon said with a completely straight face trying to sound uninterested. The smirk on Jeonghan’s lips told him that his scent had betrayed him though. He was actually very interested in what would happen if Soonyoung ever got jealous. But instead of asking more about the topic, he looked at the paper on his table to signal Jeonghan that this topic was a closed case. One day he would talk with Soonyoung about it.

“So you’re dating again now?” Jeonghan asked after a short pause and Jihoon was happy he didn’t need to think anymore about how sex with a jealous Soonyoung might be. After all, he was at work right now talking to his friend. It wasn’t the right time to think about sex.

“I think so. We went kind of on a date yesterday and have something planned for the weekend too. We write dumb messages to the other and say very cheesy stuff. So yeah, I would say we are dating again. There are still a lot of things we need to talk about and figure out though. We are both cautious and scared of certain things, but I think we can work all of it out this time. We try to talk to the other now and understand the other, so hopefully, we’ll overcome whatever will come our way.” Jeonghan gave him a big smile and Jihoon couldn’t help smiling back just as brightly.

“Tell Soonyoung to visit sometimes. We all missed him too.” 

Jihoon raised one eyebrow at his hyung’s words. “If I’ll tell him that, he might stay away forever. That sounds like you want to eat him up or torture him or maybe even skin him alive.” 

Jihoon knew that Jeonghan of course wouldn’t do something like that, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that the older one might make Soonyoung feel bad about leaving when they met again. Even if Jeonghan was happy for Jihoon now, he was a rather unforgiving person and he probably had some rather harsh things to tell Soonyoung. 

“Hey!! How did you get to this conclusion? I said we all missed him.”

“Pfft, you probably just want to hit him. But I’m warning you, you better not hit my man.” 

Jeonghan smirked at Jihoon. “Your man, huh? What about your alpha?” 

Jihoon fell quiet at once hearing Jeonghan’s question. That was a rather difficult and complex topic for him. “Acknowledging that he’s my alpha might take a bit more time. I mean, I’m okay with my biology now and of course I know that Soonyoung is an alpha and that we fit together as alpha and omega… but I think, I still need to learn what it really means to be a couple as alpha and omega, what it means to accept Soonyoung as my alpha.”

“That’s good Jihoonie. Take your time and someday you’ll understand what it means for sure. Probably earlier than you are expecting it. Now that you have accepted your omega biology, these things will come a lot easier to you and you’ll notice that it all feels completely natural. This is not something you can read up in books, a relationship is different for everyone. You’ll figure it all out soon, Jihoonie.” It sounded much too easy when Jeonghan said it like that. 

“For now I’ll need to figure out how to survive until Sunday without seeing Soonyoung.” 

Jeonghan chuckled in amusement. “Ahh, yes young love, it’s beautiful. Staring constantly at your phone because you're waiting for a message, sleepless nights because you can’t wait to see the other again and a fast-beating heart when you finally see each other after a couple of days again.” 

It was funny to Jihoon that Jeonghan would say something like that when his hyung was obviously so much in love with Seungcheol that he still did very stupid things after being mated for a long time. Half a year ago, Seungcheol came in the morning to work all sweaty and pumped up from the gym. Jeonghan, who had sat on Jihoon’s table at that time, had jumped up immediately seeing his mate, knocking a whole stack of files off the table in the process. Seungcheol came closer and told his mate that they should do something nice together later and the omega had kind of lost it after Seungcheol had gone to his office. He said he needed to call in sick right now because he had things to do, all the while his eyes had been all hearts and sparkles. It had been amusing and creepy at the same time, but no one dared to say anything about it.

“You make it sound like you don’t go crazy when hyung gives you that special gaze. You always look like your brain gets fried completely.”

“That’s so not true, Jihoonie! I’m a very controlled omega.” Jihoon laughed loudly and Jeonghan wasn’t amused about it. He flipped his hair and glared slightly at the younger one. “You just wait and see when you are doing stupid things as omega, you won’t laugh so loudly anymore.”

Jihoon had done since yesterday already many stupid things, but it was hardly something he could help. He was too much in love to think straight, too happy that Soonyoung was back in his life.

“Soonyoung gave me his jacket and I’m refusing to give it back to him because I don’t think I can sleep without having his scent around. Can it get more stupid than that?”

Jeonghan gaped at Jihoon, obviously surprised by the younger one’s confession. “You’re more sincere than I would have expected. Even more I’m surprised that such a confession doesn’t embarrass you.” 

Jihoon shrugged and turned around to look out of the window. The sky had turned slightly darker, so it would probably start raining soon. He wondered if Soonyoung would make it to his office without getting wet.

“It did embarrass me in front of Soonyoung, but he said that he wants to have my scent around too and that it’s completely normal. That’s why I’m trying to not feel embarrassed about these things. It probably won’t work all the time, but well…” The omega turned back to Jeonghan and saw a warm smile on his friends face.

“You’re doing good, Jihoonie. You’re actually doing great. I hope you’ll have a nice date on Sunday. By the way, where are you going?”

“The amusement park.” 

Jeonghan’s eyes widened at the information. “Seriously? Don’t you hate amusement parks?” 

Jihoon nodded shortly. “Soonyoung already wanted to go with me back at university. How could I refuse him this time again?”

“You’re so whipped, Jihoonie.”

“Tell me something new. And now let’s get back to work. I have a lot to do.”

Jeonghan stood up and walked to the door. He winked the smaller one and left the office with a happy “see you later”. Jihoon picked immediately his phone up and opened the chat with Soonyoung. 

Sunday couldn’t come soon enough.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was Sunday morning and Jihoon searched frantically through his wardrobe. He didn’t know what to wear, everything felt wrong to him. Either it was too fancy or too formal or too plain. He never had been someone to care deeply about clothes. He had clothes for work, clothes for home and some pieces to look decent when going out in the evening, but none of these clothes seemed to be appropriate. 

He pulled out a light grey sweater with a deep v-neck and looked at it curiously. He had bought it some years ago together with Wonwoo when they had been invited to a party as rookie officers. He had paired it at that time together with a black suit jacket and black jeans. A guy had been constantly hitting on him at that party, so he must have looked good in it. Still, it didn’t feel like the right choice. Maybe he was just overthinking. In the end, the clothes weren’t even that important. He didn’t need to impress Soonyoung with the way he dressed.

With that in mind, Jihoon took a black hoodie out of the wardrobe and pulled it over his head. A black hoodie, black jeans, and black sneakers are classic, you can’t go wrong with that. At least Jihoon tried to convince his mind in believing that.

When he had finished dressing, he looked skeptically in the mirror. Maybe he should at least do something with his hair. It had grown quite long and fell slightly wavy around his face. The light brown color he got only a few weeks ago at the hairdresser looked strangely faded out and dirty, almost greyish. He really needed to go to the hairdresser again to fix it, but for now his hair was a lost cause. No styling would help make it look better.

Jihoon looked at the clock on his phone and saw that he still had an hour before he needed to leave. Soonyoung and him had decided to meet in front of the amusement park because it was right between their flats. Soonyoung had at first said he would pick him up, but Jihoon had convinced the older one that it would be a waste of time and gasoline.

Jihoon leaned back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. There was nothing more to do. He should have slept longer, but he had woken up half an hour before the alarm went off and had been completely awake. He was probably more nervous than he wanted to admit. Jihoon sighed loudly and looked again at the clock on his phone only to let it slip out of his hand, so it fell with a loud clang to the floor. It suddenly hit him that he had made it impossible for Soonyoung to drive him home by coming in his car to the amusement park. That had been a miscalculation on his part. He kind of hoped that the alpha would stay over the night, but if they both came by car it would be impossible.

Jihoon picked up the phone and sprang up from the couch in a hurry. He still had time left, so he would just go by subway. It was the perfect plan. Nothing would stand in his way of having Soonyoung sleep in his bed tonight. The jacket that had lain there for the past few days was hardly an adequate replacement for the alpha.

He had been alone for so many nights in his cold bed, too big for himself, too lonely without Soonyoung lying beside him. He had often slept on the couch because sleeping alone in his bed had felt so very wrong to him. He wanted Soonyoung back beside him, so everything could fall into place again.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon was shifting slightly nervous from one foot to the other while waiting in front of the amusement park. After all, he had been 20 minutes too early. He had spent his time looking around at the various people visiting the park. Families, couples, classmates, friends, he had seen them all. Most memorable had been one pair of grownup lovers who stopped close to Jihoon and kissed sweetly just to giggle like schoolkids afterward. It was the kind of scene Jihoon had always snorted at, but now he was imagining Soonyoung and him in their spot and he liked the thought of it. He could have never imagined being that sweet with a partner, but it was different with Soonyoung because he wasn’t like all the others. He was nice, caring and gentle. Jihoon wanted to offer the whole world to Soonyoung.

Jihoon’s face heated up slightly at his thoughts. He really was dumbly whipped. The omega shook his head and laughed quietly when he spotted Soonyoung in the crowd. The alpha ran up to him while grinning widely. Soonyoung was wearing a nice pair of black jeans and a red and black checkered sweater over a white button-down shirt. A black tie hung loosely around his neck and the whole outfit was completed with expensive-looking black sneakers. His black hair looked shiny and if Jihoon’s eyes weren’t betraying him, he could even see some makeup on the other’s face. Jihoon looked down at himself and felt ridiculous. Soonyoung looked like they were on a date while he looked like he wanted to go to the convenience store to fetch some coke and chips for an evening alone watching TV.

Soonyoung took a step closer to him with a fond smile on his face. “Hey, have you been waiting long? Did I already tell you that I like your hair like this? The length and the color suits you very well.” 

While Soonyoung was running his fingers through his hair, Jihoon was still busily regretting not wearing something nicer. He really could have tried a bit harder, but no, he left Soonyoung no other choice than complimenting his hair out of all things. He hadn’t even styled his damn hair! He needed to overthink his priorities in life and stop thinking that certain things made him weak. Because he knew deep down that this was the real reason he decided against dressing nicely. But dressing up for the person you love certainly wasn’t making you weak, he knew that now looking at Soonyoung who had given his all. He was so stupid. Next time he would do better. Not only for Soonyoung but for himself too. He had wanted to look nice after all but had ignored the urge.

“You look nice, Soon. I have no excuse for looking like this.” 

“What’s wrong with how you look? I probably was just too eager and tried too hard,” the alpha said while happily patting Jihoon’s head. “No matter what you wear, you always look the most beautiful to me.” 

Jihoon wanted to cry. He really did. Why did Soonyoung have to say that now? It made him feel even dumber.

“Let’s go inside, Jihoonie!” Soonyoung grabbed Jihoon’s hand and led him through the crowd of people. They paid for their tickets and slowly made their way into the amusement park. Because it was Sunday, the park was full of people, it was loud, the air was filled with a thousand different scents and there was almost no space to walk. It was the kind of place Jihoon hated the most. He liked staying at home on a day off and once in a while he went to a coffee shop or a bar to meet his friends. He enjoyed the solitude of the beach Soonyoung and he went to three days ago, he liked the silence in a park and the fresh air of the landside. Ultimately, the amusement park was the most horrible place to Jihoon, but when he looked at the wide smile on Soonyoung’s face and his brightly sparkling eyes that tried to take in all the different impressions, he couldn’t feel bad about coming here. Seeing Soonyoung so happy filled him with a contentment he had never felt before.

“Let’s go into this shop and buy some headbands!” Soonyoung said in a chipper voice. Jihoon wanted to start arguing about the topic but didn’t have the heart to do it in the end. How bad could some stupid headband even be?

Soonyoung pulled him into the shop and they stopped in front of the wall with the headbands. All of them were equally bad to Jihoon, but he had already accepted his fate. “What do you want to buy?” He asked the alpha dryly, but Soonyoung ignored him and looked curiously through all the headbands.

“How about we’ll choose one for the other?” Soonyoung suggested. Jihoon shrugged but started looking through the headbands nevertheless. His gaze fell on a band with black dog ears. He decided that these would do and handed them over to Soonyoung.

“Why dog ears?” 

Jihoon didn’t even know why Soonyoung asked him. The other knew exactly the meaning behind it. “Because you always look like a puppy at me.” 

Soonyoung chuckled loudly. “Hmm, true. Here, I found just the right headband for you too.” 

Jihoon looked at the band that Soonyoung offered him and felt his soul leaving his body. “Soon, I really didn’t want to complain, but you can’t be fucking serious with THIS.” 

It was a headband with an arrangement of different pink and white flowers. Some of the flowers were glittering and some were made out of a very shiny material.

“Why? You’ll look like a fairy wearing that.”

Jihoon’s expression got even harder. “Maybe you need a good beating, you’ll be able to see then fairies too.” 

Soonyoung simply grinned at him. “Let’s not waste time arguing. I’ll pay and you can think in the meantime about where you want to go first. Deal?”

Jihoon shook his head, finally surrendering. “Do I even have a choice?”

“I’ll be fast. Wait for me outside, sugar fairy.” Soonyoung leaned down and gave the omega a chaste kiss on the cheek and ran away happily.

“He’s lucky I love him so much or I would have broken his neck,” Jihoon muttered under his breath and pushed through the crowd of people to wait outside for Soonyoung. 

Instead of thinking about what they could do first in the amusement park, Jihoon thought back on their days at university. Sugar fairy, marshmallow and shortcake had been the pet names Soonyoung had used the most often for him. He came up almost daily with new corny or strange names and Jihoon had thrown a fit each time the alpha teased him them. Thinking back on it now, Soonyoung probably hadn’t the intention to tease him back then, but it had been his special way to express the feelings he didn’t dare to say out loud. Jihoon could still remember clearly that Soonyoung had called him once “love of my life”. He had dismissed it as a joke that day, but now he was sure the words had been very sincere. There had been so many signs of how madly Soonyoung had been in love with him and he had looked away from all of them. Luckily now he had gotten another chance and this time he wouldn’t turn away from Soonyoung’s affections. Even if it meant wearing a headband with pink flowers on his head.

While Jihoon was still deep in thoughts, Soonyoung appeared beside him and put the headband on the omega’s head. “Lucky that I don’t see myself,” he said in a flat voice. He actually wanted to growl at the alpha, but the older one kept on tucking some strands of hair behind his ear with a gentle expression on his face that he couldn’t help turning soft at once.

“You’re the most beautiful sugar fairy of them all,” Soonyoung told him teasingly. Jihoon pushed the alpha annoyedly away and turned around to leave, but Soonyoung grabbed his hand immediately and intertwined their fingers.

“Don’t overstep the mark, Soon,” Jihoon said through gritted teeth while they walked down the road to the attractions.

“It’s simply the truth. You are the most beautiful, the prettiest, the most handsome, the sexiest…” Jihoon hastily put a hand over Soonyoung’s mouth that the alpha gently pried away immediately.

“Stop it already! You’re embarrassing.”

“Do you want a kiss as an apology?” Soonyoung smiled at the omega and Jihoon tried to figure out if he was making or joke or not. He had thought in the last few days far too many times about kissing Soonyoung, but this hardly seemed like the right situation. They were in a big crowd of people being pushed around constantly. Jihoon didn’t want it to be like that. He wanted to fully enjoy kissing Soonyoung again taking all the time in the world he needed. He didn’t want people to bump into them and cut their time short. But of course, he wouldn’t tell that Soonyoung.

“Don’t think I’m gonna kiss you now that easily after you refused me the last time.”

“It was just an offer,” Soonyoung said while grinning at him and turned around to look at the rollercoaster straight ahead of them.

“Let’s ride this!!” He shouted excitedly and suddenly Jihoon could see the Soonyoung from many years ago in front of him again. It felt like a travel to the past, but at the same time, everything was different than at university. He was a lot happier now, more content and confident. Jihoon teared up slightly and turned his head away from Soonyoung, but the alpha noticed it immediately. 

He took Jihoon’s face in both hands and turned it around. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just happy.” They both looked at each other and Jihoon could see in Soonyoung’s eyes that he knew exactly what he was feeling. The past was finally just the past and they could move on into a better present and future.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon walked as fast as possible down the road in the amusement park with slightly shaking legs, searching for a place to sit down. When he spotted a small restaurant, he didn’t hesitate and walked over to sit tiredly down on one of the chairs. “I won’t move for the next half an hour.”

“I’m sorry, you should have told me you get scared that easily, we wouldn’t have gone to the haunted house then.” Jihoon could hear the amusement in Soonyoung’s voice and it ticked him off greatly. He had never been fond of ghost stories, horror movies and haunted houses. It all creeped him out, but of course he was too proud to admit that when Soonyoung had pulled him into the haunted house. Just thinking about that spooky place made his pupils shake slightly. 

He hadn’t screamed while they walked through the haunted house but he had tightly gripped onto Soonyoung’s sleeve all the time. He had expected the alpha to be scared easily too, but he seemed to be completely unbothered and even had laughed when a person dressed as a ghost jumped in front of them. Jihoon had been close to fainting that moment but somehow managed to drag himself to the exit. He officially hated amusement parks now even more.

“I don’t get scared easily! I’m just tired because we have been walking around the freaking park for three hours already and tried out a dozen different attractions!”

A little, knowing smirk spread over Soonyoung’s lips, but he didn’t comment further on it. “Right… I’m gonna get us something to drink?” 

Jihoon pouted in annoyance and folded his arms over his chest. “I want a coke.”

“Of course you do. When do you even drink something else besides coke or coffee? I’ll take a look if I can get something to eat too.” Soonyoung waved him goodbye and walked off in a hurry. Jihoon leaned back in his chair and stared at the bright blue sky. They had been lucky that the weather was exceptionally nice today. It was a bit warm even though it was autumn and the breeze that was making his hair move slightly was light and fresh, just like the layer of mint on Soonyoung’s scent. Remembering the alpha’s scent, Jihoon finally allowed himself to smile for the first time after the drama in the haunted house. 

He closed his eyes and thought about what they could do next when he noticed an unknown alpha’s scent close by. Jihoon opened his eyes again and saw that someone had sat down on the seat beside him. The guy was around Jihoon’s age, maybe slightly younger. Not bad looking, but he didn’t like the excessive confidence in his eyes.

“Hey, did your friends leave you alone? Should I keep you company? My friends are waiting to ride the big rollercoaster, but I hate roller coasters…” 

Jihoon sighed loudly. He didn’t like this situation. He just wanted to spend a nice day with Soonyoung and not get bothered by some overconfident stranger.

“I’m here with my boyfriend, so don’t try hitting on me.”

The alpha looked around for a moment before turning back to Jihoon. “That’s curious, I don’t smell alpha pheromones on you and I can’t see anyone watching you. Are you dating a beta? That would be a pity, you’re such a cute omega too. Betas can’t satisfy you completely, you know? Why don’t you try dating me instead?”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. He doubted it that an overconfident idiot like him could satisfy him in any way. “Just leave me alone already, you’re annoying,” the omega spit out in a harsh voice.

The guy moved with his chair a bit closer and his strong alpha pheromones tried to seduce Jihoon, wrap around him and pull him closer. Jihoon felt nauseous because the scent was repelling to him.

“But what should I do? You’re so pretty and unclaimed and I really can’t help it.” 

Before Jihoon could answer again, another wave of pheromones hit him. It was even stronger making him lose the ability to think. It was his most favorite scent of coffee and mint.

“You’re sitting on my seat.” Jihoon heard Soonyoung say, but he couldn’t even turn around because he was still dazed from the alpha’s pheromones.

“Oh… you’re really here with your boyfriend? I thought you were lying. Sorry, I’ll better go now.” The stranger got up hastily and almost tripped over his own feet when running away. 

“Here, I got you a coke and a burger.” Soonyoung put a tray in front of him and sat down beside Jihoon. The omega had expected him to be angry, but instead Soonyoung was smiling gently.

“Thanks,” Jihoon muttered quietly and took a sip from the coke. Shouldn’t Soonyoung be angry in a situation like this? Jihoon couldn’t help being confused by the behavior of the alpha.

“Doesn’t it bother you that the guy was hitting on me?”

“I can’t blame him. You’re handsome and unclaimed. You aren’t even scented, he couldn’t have known.”

Jihoon got more and more confused by Soonyoung’s words. “B-but… you’re an alpha, shouldn’t this make you jealous and angry?”

“I can control these feelings well.” Soonyoung took a sip of his fizzy, bright red drink. Jihoon guessed it was something like strawberry or raspberry soda and must taste disgustingly sweet.

“Well, that’s great I guess.” Jihoon’s words weren’t a lie, but they also didn’t feel like the truth. It was good that Soonyoung could control his feelings well, but it still bothered the omega on more than one level. He had the impression that Soonyoung was holding back strongly on his alpha instincts, when he believed they were not appropriate and it didn’t sit well with Jihoon. Soonyoung shouldn’t feel the need to hold back on these feelings. Moreover, Jihoon was slightly disappointed that Soonyoung wasn’t jealous at all because he had wanted to see the alpha angry and jealous. Maybe it was an omega thing or maybe Jeonghan had promoted the idea of jealous sex too well the other day. 

“What do you want to do after resting for a while?” Soonyoung suddenly asked him. Jihoon scrunched his nose and looked at the burger in front of him. There really were still a lot of things they had to work out, but for now he should concentrate on their date.

“Whatever you want to do. It was your idea to come here after all.” 

Soonyoung laughed widely showing off his perfect teeth and his eyes turned into small crescents. It was very charming.

“You’re holding out better than I thought you would. I expected that you would want to leave already after two or three hours.”

Jihoon turned back to his burger and took a big bite. He muttered with a full mouth “the things we do for love.” 

The warmth radiating off Soonyoung told him that he heard him very clearly and maybe Jihoon didn’t want it any other way.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The rest of the day had been rather stressful to Jihoon. Not because of the never-ending attractions they needed to ride because of Soonyoung, but more because the alpha kept on messing with Jihoon’s mind. It started innocently with holding hands, then he touched him at the small of his back while waiting in line, a bit later he laid his arm around him. At this point the list was endless and Soonyoung just kept on touching him and it made Jihoon restless. It had been especially difficult for the omega when they had sat down the last time and Soonyoung started touching his leg. He went as far as drawing lazy circles at the inside of his thigh which made Jihoon jump up and flee.

He wasn’t sure if Soonyoung was doing it on purpose or if it was unintentionally. Either way, it was starting to drive Jihoon insane and he really wanted to go home already. It was past 7 PM and they were currently waiting in line for the Ferris wheel. They had agreed that it would be the last thing they’ll do before going home. Jihoon wanted to skip it, but Soonyoung had said it looked “too beautiful lit up in the darkness to miss out on it”. Jihoon had found no argument against it because it looked hauntingly beautiful, so they ultimately ended up waiting in line for the Ferris wheel.

The whole day Jihoon and Soonyoung had stood countless of times in line talking about a thousand different topics in the meanwhile. There had been one thing they hadn’t talked about and Jihoon was quite curious about it. Soonyoung had never volunteered information about it.

“How’s your work going, Soon?” It was already dark outside and the spot they were standing at was badly lit, so it was difficult for Jihoon to see Soonyoung’s expression well. Still, he was quite sure the other made a sour face, knitting his eyebrows in annoyance.

“Actually, not that well. I might get fired in the next few days.”

“What?? But you’re the most hardworking person I’ve ever seen. You’re a great profiler and it would be a big loss for them!” The information came completely unexpected to Jihoon. In his world there was no scenario where Soonyoung could get fired. He was too hard-working, too clever and too nice.

“Let’s just say I had some trouble with my partner who is at the same time my superior. I don’t think we’ll be able to fix this and truthfully said, I don’t even want to work with him anymore.” There was obviously more to the story that Soonyoung didn’t want to say right now, but Jihoon didn’t want to pressure the alpha into telling him. He could always ask another day about it again.

“What will you do when you lose your job?” Jihoon grabbed Soonyoung’s hand tightly and the alpha forced a smile onto his lips.

“I don’t know, Jihoonie. I really don’t know.”

They fell into an awkward silence, but no matter how hard Jihoon thought about something to say, he couldn’t come up with anything. It pained Jihoon too much that the one thing Soonyoung had tried to achieve for many years, turned out to be a disastrous experience. He was afraid that it would break Soonyoung in some way.

Jihoon gazed from the corner of his eye at Soonyoung who looked with an unreadable expression at the Ferris wheel. Maybe it was time for Jihoon to confess one of the things he had tried to ignore for many weeks now. It had made him angry and despaired, but he had been too proud to talk with someone about it.

“It’s our turn, Jihoonie.” The omega looked ahead and saw that they had indeed reached the end of the line and the door of a cabin was already open, waiting for them to get inside. Soonyoung took his hand and pulled him along and sat down quietly in the cabin. As soon as the door closed, Soonyoung turned his head to look out of the window, the unreadable, far away expression still on his face. Jihoon took a deep breath and leaned slightly forward to lay his hands on the alphas’.

“Soonyoung, I want you to listen closely to me now. I’m only gonna say it once. In the last three months, I haven’t only learned a lot about me as an omega, but also about me as a team leader in my job. My team kept on supporting me all the time, telling me I was doing great. In fact, I know that I did anything but great. I’m not good at leading people, I’m often acting too rash and selfish, I hate dealing with all the paperwork and calls you have to make as a team leader and most of all I dislike working together with people I can’t stand. Because I kept on rejecting the new team members, I was every day expecting to get demoted. I don’t want to say that I was deliberately acting like an ass to the new colleagues to get demoted, but I didn’t mind the thought of getting demoted all that much. But there is one thing I would like a lot better than getting demoted and that would be resigning as team leader by myself. But I can only do that when I know my team gets a new leader I can accept and work well with. There is only one person I can imagine doing that job.”

Soonyoung looked confused for a moment before the realization of Jihoon’s words hit him.

“Jihoon… you want me to come back as a team leader?”

“I won’t accept anybody else but you. Also, I hate it that I don’t know what you are working on and that I have to constantly worry about you.” It wasn’t sitting well with Jihoon that he didn’t know what Soonyoung was up to in his job. His office was far away and they weren’t even allowed to exchange words about current cases because they were bound to secrecy. 

“I’m worrying even more about you, you’re always so reckless. The thought of someone like Min Jaeho appearing again and I won’t be there to save you is driving me insane with worry.” 

Jihoon laughed loudly remembering a few reckless things Soonyoung had done too. “You’re not better though. You were playing the prey for the killer after all.” 

Soonyoung gave him a small smile and squeezed Jihoon’s hands a bit. “I guess we need to protect each other then,” the alpha said gently and Jihoon’s face lit up at once.

“Does this mean you’re coming back?”

“Yes, Jihoonie. I’ll quit my job at the National Intelligence Service and go back to the police station. I decided that I want to be happy again and do things that are good for me. Working together with you and the others will make me very happy.”

They both smiled at each other and the cabin of the Ferris wheel stopped at the very top. “People say that when a couple kisses at the top of the Ferris wheel, their love will last forever,” Soonyoung said while chuckling lowly. Only seconds afterward, Jihoon grabbed the alpha’s sweater and pulled him close until their lips almost touched. 

“I don’t need to kiss you at the top of the Ferris wheel to know that my love will last forever, but I guess it won’t hurt if you kiss me now.” Soonyoung closed the gap between them at once. It was just a gentle brush of lips, but both their pheromones leashed out strongly filling the whole cabin with their scents. Jihoon felt light-headed, but not only because of the kiss and the alpha’s pheromones, the whole situation was exciting. Jihoon couldn’t be happier knowing that Soonyoung would come back to their police station. He would see him every day at work again and he could finally stop being a team leader. It was perfect for him.

Soonyoung was just sucking at Jihoon’s lower lip when the Ferris wheel started moving again. Jihoon knew their time was limited, so he wanted to make the best out of it. He opened his mouth and Soonyoung got the hint immediately. He strongly pushed his tongue into the omega’s mouth. Jihoon moaned in contentment when their tongues finally touched, fighting for dominance in the kiss.

Jihoon still wasn’t sure up to this day if Soonyoung was simply a great kisser or if kissing the alpha felt so unbelievable good because they were a perfect match. Not only did Soonyoung’s tongue move inside his mouth like it was made for kissing him, but the way the profiler touched him was insanely satisfying too. One hand and was holding onto his jaw, moving the omega’s face gently when needed and the other hand was on his nape, playing with the short hair, alternatively pulling at it slightly.

The longer the kiss went on, the more worked up Jihoon got. He grabbed Soonyoung’s shirt stronger and kissed him back even harder. He wanted so much more at that moment, but he slowly felt like suffocating and time was running out for them as well, so he finally pulled back. 

They both panted harshly after the kiss, not able to calm down for a moment. Their pheromones hang heavily in the air making it difficult for both of them to breathe calmly in and out. For Jihoon it was especially difficult to come down from his high because Soonyoung kept on looking at him with blown-wide pupils and it made the omega think about things that were in no way decent to do in an amusement park.

The door of the cabin suddenly opened and Jihoon took one more deep breath and stumbled outside. Soonyoung laid an arm around him and pulled him close, the alpha’s pheromones now a lot calmer than before.

“I’ll tell my superior at work tomorrow that I’m resigning and then I should visit the police station as soon as possible and ask if it’s okay to take my old position again.” Jihoon looked up at Soonyoung who looked so pretty illuminated by the lights of the Ferris wheel. His features looked a tad softer, his lips a bit pinker than usual. Happiness was glistening in his warm brown eyes and Jihoon really didn’t want to ruin this perfect moment, but there was one thing in the back of his mind he kept on worrying about.

“What about your father? What will he do when he finds out?” Jihoon asked him hesitantly. Soonyoung shrugged seemingly not bothered, but Jihoon could sense that in reality, the topic did bother the alpha a lot.

“He’ll throw a fit. But this is my life and I finally should start making my own decisions.” 

Jihoon wanted to take away the burden Soonyoung had lived with all his life trying to live up to his father’s expectations, but it wouldn’t be easy to do that. Maybe they could one day visit Soonyoung’s family and talk about it. Though, Jihoon wasn’t sure if it would make things better or worse. Soonyoung’s father probably still didn’t know they were dating and Jihoon had the presentiment that he might be not very welcome in the Kwon family.

“Don’t look so worried at me Jihoonie, everything will be alright. Let’s head back to the entrance.” 

They walked quietly through the darkness, both of them busy with their thoughts. When they arrived at the point where they had gone into the park in the morning, Soonyoung suddenly stopped walking and let go of Jihoon.

“Wait a moment here, I need to buy something.” The alpha sprinted to the shop where they had earlier bought the headbands. Jihoon wondered what Soonyoung wanted to buy so urgently. He paced around until the alpha came out of the shop and ran back to him. Soonyoung stood in front of him obviously hesitating to show Jihoon what he had just bought. Jihoon just wanted to tell him, to hurry up because nothing could be worse than the headband he was currently wearing when Soonyoung took his hand and put a bracelet on it. It was an ugly thing with small pink and blue plastic beads that were made to look to children’s eyes like jewels. 

“Please accept it. It’s just a children’s bracelet, but I‘ll soon exchange it for a nicer one.” Soonyoung still held his hand while looking at Jihoon with sincere eyes. The omega could sense an underlying desperation in the alpha. The whole situation was strange, but Jihoon couldn’t figure out what exactly was going on.

„I just... I just want you to wear something you got from me. If it’s a bother to you then I won’t force you of course.“ 

It was like lightning struck Jihoon and he finally knew what Soonyoung was doing here. It was a possessive gesture of an unmated alpha. It was very usual that alphas want to mark what is theirs in different kinds of ways. Scenting was one of them, another one was putting marks on their partner for others to see and buying things for their omega to wear was yet another one. Jihoon had read a lot about it, so he wasn’t surprised by the gesture. He was more surprised by the fact that Soonyoung seemed for once not able to control his urges. Especially because he had been earlier not one bit jealous when another alpha had flirted with Jihoon.

“It’s fine, Soon, I‘ll wear it.” Soonyoung suddenly pulled Jihoon’s hand with the bracelet on it up and started kissing along the band of plastic. He didn’t stop at that but bit into the skin before letting his tongue glide along the faint mark of teeth. Jihoon started panting slightly. If Soonyoung wouldn’t stop right now, his pheromones would go completely out of control and he would get a boner in the middle of the amusement park.

“S-stop, I‘m getting aroused,” Jihoon panted out and Soonyoung let his hand go immediately but still stared intensely at him. He could see his feelings reflected in the alpha's eyes. He wanted him.

“We can’t have that while we’re in public. We should slowly head home.” Soonyoung’s voice was lower than usual and that didn’t help Jihoon calm down, instead, it riled him up even more. His pheromones started flaring out, but Soonyoung’s own pushed immediately against them in an attempt to calm the smaller one down.

“Forget what just happened and let’s go. I must say, I’m a bit sad I have to let you go already.” The alpha’s voice had gotten back to normal and Jihoon suddenly felt like he could breathe again. It seemed like he was still bad at controlling himself in certain situations when Soonyoung was involved. He needed to learn how to control himself better, at least in public.

“Well, you could drive me home?”

“What about your car?” Soonyoung’s raised one eyebrow while Jihoon was looking at him innocently.

“I came by subway. Is it a problem?” Jihoon asked nonchalantly and Soonyoung laughed loudly in response.

“No, of course not. I gladly drive you home.” A smile tugged at Jihoon’s lips when he turned around to walk to the parking lot. He wouldn’t let Soonyoung leave him alone today.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The drive back to Jihoon’s apartment complex was fast and a strange nervousness tugged at him when Soonyoung stopped the car in front of the entrance. He was afraid that Soonyoung would leave him alone again. He couldn’t stand the thought. He knew the whole thing was completely irrational and something his omega biology worsened, but there was no way for him to shake these feelings of. He wanted and needed Soonyoung to stay this evening and also the night, but maybe it was better to not tell the alpha all of it at once.

“Stay for a while,” he said into the silence of the car. Soonyoung didn’t look surprised at all, instead, Jihoon could smell rejection on his scent.

“Jihoonie, maybe next time.”

The omega felt himself tear up slightly. He grabbed Soonyoung’s arm and pulled it close to him.

“Stay for a while. I don’t want to beg each time for you to come up to my flat. Just don’t leave me right now, okay?” 

Soonyoung’s eyes softened and the rejection on his scent faded away. “Okay, I’ll stay for a while.” 

Jihoon let out a shaky breath. Suddenly the nervousness was gone when Soonyoung started the engine again to park the car somewhere. A small smile tugged at Jihoon’s lips when he saw that Soonyoung was gazing at him from the corner of his eye. Now he only needed to make him stay for the night because he was dead set on not waking up alone tomorrow.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In Jihoon’s flat, a strange awkwardness was hanging heavily in the air. Jihoon knew that Soonyoung had a reason to refuse to come with him, it would be difficult to contain themselves when in private. The omega had felt already earlier when they kissed in the Ferris wheel that it would be difficult to stop himself from wanting more when they were alone. It wasn’t per se a problem, but Soonyoung probably worried that they were going too fast again. He couldn’t blame him for it.

“Do you want to drink something?” Soonyoung nodded, so they walked over to the kitchen. On the way there, Jihoon stared at the bracelet on his hand. He still was confused by Soonyoung’s behavior over the day and maybe it would be better to not keep it inside, but ask Soonyoung about it. 

“Soon, I have a question. You kept on touching me at the amusement park and then you bought me the bracelet. Was it because of the guy who hit on me?” 

Soonyoung stopped in front of Jihoon and knitted his brows in confusion. “No, I already told you that I wasn’t jealous.” 

Jihoon sighed quietly. Either Soonyoung couldn’t see what he had done today or he chose to not see it. “It’s normal to be jealous though. I’m jealous when someone flirts with you too and I’m an omega. It should be worse for an alpha.”

“Like I said already, I can control my alpha mind well.” Soonyoung’s mouth was pressed together in a tight line. It was a sign he didn’t want to talk about this topic anymore, but Jihoon still had a lot to say.

“Sometimes a bit too well if you ask me. You’re suppressing a lot of things because you were told by your father to behave a certain way. Maybe you need to change your perspective a bit. Jealousy, anger and dominance are not just bad character traits, if you don’t go overboard with them it’s all reasonable.” It was almost funny that Jihoon was telling Soonyoung these things when he had been the one to hate on certain behaviors of omegas for years thinking they made a person weak.

“I rather not feel these emotions if possible. It’s easy as an alpha to lose yourself in these kinds of feelings if you start once and then there is no other way than living them out. Do you know how scary an angry and jealous alpha can be? Do you know how extremely dominant one can get? Believe me, you don’t want to see me like that.” 

Jihoon felt annoyance in him flaring up. He didn’t like it how Soonyoung didn’t trust him with his alpha side. Yes, it was reasonable because Jihoon had ignored all of Soonyoung’s alpha needs in the past, but he had changed and wanted the older one to acknowledge that as well. He craved for the trust of his partner.

“I saw you like that when Min Jaeho tried to kill me,” Jihoon reasoned, but Soonyoung shrugged it off.

“That was an exceptional situation.”

“I wasn’t scared of you at that time.” A cold shiver ran down Jihoon’s spine when Soonyoung stared at him with emotionless eyes. He hadn’t looked at him like this since their talk a few days ago. 

“I’m a bit thirsty. Can I have something to drink?” Jihoon knew that the discussion was over now. The topic seemed to make Soonyoung uncomfortable and maybe he had gone too far with it. Maybe it wasn’t just his upbringing, but his own decision to not heavily rely on emotions after going through life alone for a long time. He would need to talk another time to Soonyoung about again, but for now he didn’t want to make him more uncomfortable. Today had been such a nice day and he didn’t want to ruin that. It still didn’t sit well with Jihoon that Soonyoung seemed to not fully trust him, but they were only dating for a couple of days again. He was probably expecting too much and was too impatient. He had destroyed the trust Soonyoung had in him with taking the suppressants again, now he needed to work hard to regain this trust and not feel offended immediately when things didn’t go his way.

Jihoon shook the confusing thoughts off and got two glasses out of the cupboard, but when he wanted to turn around, Soonyoung had already hugged him from behind closing his arms tightly around him. Jihoon put the glasses with slightly unsteady hands on the countertop when the alpha started nuzzling his neck.

“You’re so beautiful. Even more beautiful than I remember,” the older one said quietly. Jihoon took a shaky breath and loosened Soonyoung’s arms around him to turn around. It was strange how Soonyoung went from being very closed off to this affectionate in a matter of seconds, but Jihoon didn’t want to question it too deeply.

“I think it’s because I’m not taking the suppressants anymore for months already. The changes are only subtle but they are there. I‘ve become a bit rounder around the hips and also my face looks a bit softer. My lashes are longer too.”

Soonyoung stared at Jihoon’s lips all the while the younger one was talking. The omega expected him to kiss him any second, but instead he reached for his face and cupped his cheek.

“You drive me insane. I almost can’t breathe anymore. You’re so beautiful. So intelligent. So perfect in every way. I can’t be without you Jihoonie. Never again.“ The alpha leaned down and placed butterfly kisses all over his face. “So beautiful, Jihoonie.” Soonyoung finally stopped at his ear and kissed it too while one of his hands went under Jihoon’s shirt and caressed the small of his back gently. “Beautiful.”

Jihoon felt desire shooting up his spine and his pheromones were flaring out strongly. “S-stop, Soon. I’m at my limit.” Soonyoung let him go and took a step back, breathing heavily. The desire was radiating off the alpha in thick waves, pulling at Jihoon’s mind and body. His heart was beating loudly in his ears, he didn’t know how to calm down anymore. They went too far. He had been lying, he was already over his limit. He couldn’t stop wanting more. 

“Bedroom,” Jihoon panted out tugging at the alpha’s sweater. Soonyoung just stared at him, obviously fighting a battle within himself. Jihoon knew it because he was fighting the same battle. Was this too fast? Should he throw Soonyoung out and wait for a better time to do this? Was there even a better time for this when his heart, mind, and body was longing so much for the alpha? Jihoon reached out for Soonyoung’s face and caressed his cheek gently. “Let’s just go with the flow and make things work for us, Soon. I want you.”

Jihoon took Soonyoung’s hand and pulled him to the bedroom. When he turned the lights in the bedroom on, the alpha still looked like he wasn’t sure if they should really be doing this. Jihoon knew that words wouldn’t be helpful in this situation, so he just shoved him over to the bed and pushed the alpha down. He climbed in a hurry onto the bed and positioned himself over the other’s lap. Jihoon eagerly pulled at the alpha’s sweater until the older helped to pull it off. Jihoon got rid of his clothes only a second later and as soon as the hoodie was off, Soonyoung sat up and tried to push Jihoon down on the bed, but he didn’t let him.

“Don’t. I’ll be the one to make you feel good today. The last time we slept together, you did all the work. Let me do the work his time. I know, you don’t like that as alpha, but please try to accept it.” Jihoon tried to sound domineering, confident but it was difficult while being aroused. Still, Soonyoung seemed to notice that this was important to the younger one because his hold on him slowly loosened.

“Alright, do what you want then.” Soonyoung leaned back on the bed, obviously not completely happy with Jihoon’s request but accepting for the time being. The omega used the sudden passiveness of Soonyoung and straddled the older’s waist to lean over him. Jihoon didn’t even know where to start on Soonyoung’s body, every inch of skin looked touchable and inviting. In the end he decided that starting from the top was the best choice, so he kissed the alpha gently on the lips and then on the cheek only to start sucking at his jaw. Soonyoung had such a strong jawline, Jihoon couldn’t help staring at it each time the alpha turned his head to the side.

Jihoon went lower until he reached the alpha’s neck. He bit down right where his scent gland was and a low growl ripped from Soonyoung’s throat that made Jihoon freeze up. “Don’t bite me there or I can’t help biting you too and we both know what will happen then.” 

Jihoon’s heart was suddenly hammering in his chest. It must have been his biology’s reaction to the mention of Soonyoung mating him. Luckily for Jihoon, his mind was still very clear, so he was able to easily shove the thought away. This was not the right time to think about mating, it was much too early. 

Because biting Soonyoung’s neck seemed to be a taboo for him, the smaller one latched onto his collarbones, sucking and dragging his teeth against them until he finally bit down. The alpha grunted at the feeling but didn’t attempt to stop his partner. Jihoon smiled against the skin in contentment on bit down once more. He stopped marking the alpha when he could see four obvious love bites on his collarbones and made his way down Soonyoung’s body, slowly kissing and caressing him while trying to remember every well-defined muscle and every particularly sensitive part. Jihoon had planned to take it slow, but he became fast impatient and pulled Soonyoung’s jeans and underwear off his body. He stared for a moment at Soonyoung’s thick thighs before getting rid of his clothes as fast to sit between the alpha’s legs. 

Jihoon wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He felt the need to go down on Soonyoung and make him feel as good as possible but his own body was itching to have the alpha’s thick cock inside of him. His desire to get pleasured as well won over in the end. He was sure that Soonyoung wouldn’t mind it. “I’m going to prepare myself for your cock.”

Soonyoung’s eyes widened and he immediately sat up. “Please let me help you, Jihoonie.”

“No, don’t move. I’ll prepare myself.” There was another growl coming deep from Soonyoung’s throat, but Jihoon stayed completely unbothered. 

“Give me the lube, it’s in the bedside drawer.” The alpha didn’t move at the command which made Jihoon slightly angry. “Could you hurry? I’m desperate here!”

Soonyoung took the lube out of the drawer and stared at the half-empty bottle for a moment before handing it over. “I was lonely okay? And I just didn’t get wet enough because I’m not in preheat or heat and…” Jihoon broke the sentence off, the tips of his ears coloring slightly red. 

“You didn’t produce a lot of slick because there were no alpha pheromones around to trigger it.” Jihoon nodded quietly. “You probably won’t need the lube anymore now. But I guess it won’t hurt using it.” Soonyoung’s words were gentle and all anger and impatience from his scent had vanished. Regret and sadness over the last three months were shimmering in his eyes and it was the last thing Jihoon wanted to see at this moment. He hastily coated his fingers with a large amount of lube and pushed two of them in one go into his hole. He moaned lowly at the intrusion shaking in the slightly uncomfortable position he was in.

He was on his knees between Soonyoung’s spread legs, moving his hips a bit while his fingers went in and out of his hole. The alpha had been right, he wouldn’t have needed the lube because his inside was dripping wet. He loved the feeling, the lube had done the deed too, but natural slick was a lot better. It was hot and thick in consistency and he liked it when the liquid dripped out of his hole when he was very aroused. He still remembered it clearly how it slipped out of him and ran down his legs when Soonyoung got him off the first time. He probably wouldn’t produce as much slick today because his hormones were not completely out of control like that time but it still should be enough to make it easier taking Soonyoung’s cock.

“Are you feeling good, Jihoonie? Are you wet enough?” Jihoon opened his eyes that had fallen shut without him even noticing. Soonyoung was watching him with a heated gaze, his pheromones flickering excitedly in the air. Slick started now gushing slightly out of Jihoon’s hole and the omega keened at feeling. He pulled his fingers immediately out just to push in three digits. The need to get filled more was crawling under his skin, his fingers just weren’t enough. Jihoon’s gaze dropped to look at Soonyoung’s hard cock standing at attention for him. He wanted that inside of him, he wanted to feel Soonyoung deep inside of him filling him up so completely that the alpha was the only thing he felt.

“Yes, it’s g-good. It’s m-much better than doing it alone, hmm…” Without much thought, Jihoon pushed a fourth finger into him and whined quietly. He had done this many times before, but the stretch of four fingers was still a bit uncomfortable at first. 

“Jihoonie, let me help you,” Soonyoung pleaded again but Jihoon shook his head stubbornly.

“No, I can do this. I’m u-used to opening myself up with ahh four fingers. Just w-wait a moment.” Jihoon scissored his fingers as hard as possible and a strange sound somewhere between a groan and a whimper fell from his lips. He knew, he needed to prepare himself well because of Soonyoung’s size but he was starting to shake more and more and it got difficult for Jihoon to hold himself upon his knees at this point.

“Soon, I, ahh I need you…” The alpha sat up and grabbed Jihoon’s hips to steady the smaller one. He drew soothing circles with his thumbs on Jihoon’s overheated skin. The gentle gesture clouded the Jihoon’s mind slightly. He needed to be careful now to not fall into his omega mind. He tried to train that by himself, but doing it alone was very different from doing it with Soonyoung close to him, touching him, filling the whole room with his strong alpha pheromones.

“I want you too, honey. You’re so beautiful. And you‘re all mine. Say it. I need to hear it.“ The command made Jihoon’s head spin. His omega mind was clawing at him telling him to submit. It was still a strange feeling to him, but he didn’t mind it as much as he did some months ago. It was especially difficult to hate the situation when Soonyoung wanted to hear something that would be the truth either way.

”I‘m yours. I only belong to you,” Jihoon whispered making a content smile spread over Soonyoung’s lips.

“And I belong to you. I love you so much.” Soonyoung leaned down to kiss the smaller one deeply. His tongue feverishly roaming through his mouth before biting down on the omega’s lower lip. He soothed it with a suck and pushed his tongue back into Jihoon’s hot mouth. It was difficult for Jihoon to concentrate on the kiss while he was still feverishly trying to stretch his hole wider. His fingers lightly grazed his sweet spot but it barely gave him any satisfaction. His dick was throbbing and his hole was clenching on his fingers in need to get filled better. He couldn’t take it anymore, he wanted Soonyoung inside of him right now. He stopped the kiss and panted against the alpha’s lips. 

“Enough! I’m p-prepared enough. Lay down and let me ride you.” Jihoon pulled his fingers out of him and a whole amount of slick gushed out of him, running down his hand and wetting the sheets below him. The room was filled with the overly sweet scent of raspberry overpowering even the strong alpha pheromones.

Jihoon felt feverish. He was much too hot while shaking from unfulfilled desire. He pushed Soonyoung back until he was seated against the headboard of the bed and straddled his hips at once. Jihoon grabbed Soonyoung’s cock with his right hand that was still coated heavily with his slick and spread the warm liquid evenly all over. The alpha’s cock twitched in his hand and he was suddenly enticed to keep on touching it. Soonyoung had thrown his head against the headboard, his eyes were closed and his mouth slightly open. He looked ethereal and Jihoon’s own needs didn’t seem all that important anymore when Soonyoung looked so very blissed out.

“Should I keep on getting you off like this?” Soonyoung’s eyes opened slowly and the raw want in them made Jihoon shudder. The omega’s hole clenched on nothing when Soonyoung’s pheromones flared up angrily showing him that he didn’t like the idea at all.

“You were the one who started this. You wanted to go to the bedroom with me and you put on a whole show right here. Preparing yourself in front of me while refusing my help. Then you tell me you need me and want to ride me just to end up asking me to get me off like this? Seriously Jihoon?” The omega halted the movement of his hand at the barrage of words. “If it’s enough for you then it’s also enough for me, but if you want to have sex, I won’t refuse you. I need you too. So what do you want, Jihoonie?”

The answer was simple. Jihoon didn’t even need to think about it. 

“I want to feel you inside of me.” 

Soonyoung beckoned Jihoon closer. A small smirk on his face. “Then take what you want, honey.”

Jihoon positioned himself at once right over Soonyoung’s cock taking a hold of the thick shaft with one hand. He closed his eyes tightly when the blunt head pressed against his wet opening. He waited a moment until he felt ready and finally sank onto the alpha’s dick. The omega heard a moan leaving Soonyoung, but he couldn’t appreciate it because he was busy with trying to cope with the pleasure and pain he was experienced, mixing strangely together fuzzing up his brain. He had thought, he was prepared well for Soonyoung’s cock this time, but it seemed like it needed a lot more than what he had done earlier to be prepared well. His inside was struggling to adjust to Soonyoung’s size and the pain would have been too much if his mind, heart and whole being didn’t want this so much.

“Jihoonie honey, look at me.” The omega sank down another inch on Soonyoung’s dick and opened then his eyes as told. “You’re doing so well. Take it as slow as you want.” 

Jihoon started panting because of the harsh stretch but sank down even lower. He didn’t want to take it slow, it was painful and agonizing to take it slow. It was probably even worse for Soonyoung to take it slow than it was for him, but just like the last time the alpha was a genius at holding himself in check. Jihoon didn’t know if he should be thankful or annoyed. 

Jihoon finally couldn’t take the pain of going slow anymore and forced himself to sink onto Soonyoung’s cock as fast as possible until the alpha’s cock was fully inside of him. He couldn’t hold in the pained noise leaving his throat and Soonyoung sat up to pull him close to his body. One hand caressed his back while the other stroked his hair gently. “Why are you always so impatient? Don’t hurt yourself.” 

Jihoon acknowledged the sentiment, but his body told him to move, so he pushed the alpha back and rolled his hips, ignoring the pain of being split open far too much. Both of them moaned loudly at the feeling and Jihoon started feeling pleasure again. He soon found a comfortable rhythm riding Soonyoung and all pain was forgotten at that point. There was no other feeling like this in the world to Jihoon, the pleasure was a big bonus but the best thing of having Soonyoung so deep inside of him was the strong connection he felt between them at this moment. Nothing could compare to being so close to Soonyoung, no other person ever made him feel so much. His emotions were a wild mess, but his heart was beating in his chest in the same rhythm as Soonyoung’s. The love he felt was mind-numbing, rushing through his whole body like the strong waves of the sea on a stormy day. He leaned down to kiss the alpha messily, his rhythm becoming slightly faster, bouncing more desperately on Soonyoung’s cock. 

Soonyoung held all the while onto his hips making it easier for the smaller one to move, but never forcing him into doing something he didn’t want. Jihoon looked Soonyoung in the eye and saw all the overflowing emotions he felt reflected there. It was like a breaking point and Jihoon suddenly started tearing up. 

“I m-missed you so much,” he crooked out. Soonyoung pulled him closer again and kissed him on the corner of his mouth.

“I won’t leave you again. Don’t worry, I’ll never leave again. I’m sorry. Don’t cry, please.” Jihoon was so overwhelmed that tears started spilling out of his eyes. All the pain, the fear, the worries he had over the last months came crashing down on him again. It was horrible, but at the same time, it wasn’t because he wasn’t alone anymore. He was here with Soonyoung, as close as possible to the other, feeling his heartbeat under his fingertips. 

“Do you want to stop?” Soonyoung suddenly asked him and Jihoon fell out of his trance at once.

“NO! I mean, no... I need to feel you. I need this. I finally feel complete again.” 

Soonyoung smiled at him and grabbed his hips more tightly. “Do you want to switch positions?” 

Jihoon had wanted to do it in this position to make Soonyoung feel good, but maybe it would be better for both of them if he would give up the lead for now. Soonyoung would probably appreciate and Jihoon wanted to let go completely which was difficult in this position.

“Hmm, I like this. I like riding you. But... fuck ahh, I want it harder.” Soonyoung rolled them around so Jihoon was lying now on his back. The alpha gave him a small smile before pulling out of him just to thrust back inside the hot tightness.

Soonyoung was moaning loudly and Jihoon noticed how vastly different this felt to the last time they had sex. It was more real, more genuine. Maybe because they both were true to their feelings now, true to their real selves. Maybe because of the separation they loved each other even more. Jihoon had loved Soonyoung already before the separation and he knew that the alpha had felt the same, still their connection felt impossible deep right now. The day, they would restore their trust in each other completely and get over all their insecurities, they would make the perfect, inseparable pair. Jihoon felt strongly that they were meant to be while feeling Soonyoung inside of him, surrounding him so completely. There never would be anyone else but Soonyoung for him.

Soonyoung moved in a slow rhythm in and out of him stretching him out completely, always putting pressure on his sweet spot. It was a lovely feeling and for a long while it was nice to just feel the other, look him in the eyes and let the pleasure run through his body. But Jihoon wouldn’t be Jihoon if he wouldn’t get impatient again at one point. He wanted to come badly and the slow rhythm wasn’t the best to come fast.

“Harder!!” Soonyoung kept on thrusting in a slow rhythm into Jihoon, not listening to what the younger one was telling him.

“Let’s take it slow. Your body needs to get used to this. Don’t worry, I’ll make you come.”

“Fuck me harder already! I won’t break!” Soonyoung thrust slightly harder and Jihoon frantically tried to roll his hips faster to swallow the cock deeper inside. The omega clenched and unclenched his insides in the hope the alpha would finally snap and do him hard but Soonyoung held on well.

“Hmm ahh, p-please,” Jihoon was desperate at this point and he knew that begging would work the best with an alpha. Begging, feeding their ego, giving them the feeling they were in charge, these were all things Jihoon hadn’t been fond of in bed because it made him seem weak, but for Soonyoung he could do it. The problem was that nothing seemed to work. Maybe he needed to get really dirty to get what he wanted.

“Please f-fuck me harder w-with your big alpha cock. P-please, please, I need you ahh d-deeper inside my wet hole…” Soonyoung’s rhythm staggered slightly and his eyes turned into small slits, watching Jihoon like he wanted to eat him alive. From one second to the other, the alpha started pounding harshly into Jihoon making the omega scream loudly. 

“YES, g-god y-yes, yes, fuck, s-so good…” Soonyoung’s cock rammed so hard and fast into him that his sweet spot got pleasured without a break. Jihoon tried to grab the sheets, but he kept on losing his grip. His body moved around helplessly on the bed and his head was rolling from side to side, not knowing how to cope with the intense pleasure.

“You’re t-the b-best. I n-never f-felt so g-good before nghh ah…” Jihoon only got the words in syllables out at this point because Soonyoung was fucking him in a relentless rhythm. The omega moved his hips desperately to get closer to his release. He was moaning and panting without a break until Soonyoung pulled out of him only to ram back inside the tight heat as hard as possible. Jihoon’s scream was shrill and loud and he felt completely wrecked. Tears were pricking at his eyes making it difficult for the younger one to see clearly. Everything was just so hot, fast and insanely good.

“You look so pretty like this, Jihoonie. You take me s-so well, but you’ll be really sore to-tomorrow.” Soonyoung’s words were irrelevant to Jihoon. He only cared about what happened right now and now he wanted a mindblowing orgasm and maybe even something more.

“D-don’t care!! Ahhh, w-wanna come. Knot me. Knot m-me, Soon.” The alpha suddenly slowed down a bit to talk easier to Jihoon.

“No, you’re neither in preheat nor heat and we d-didn’t have sex for a long time. It will be too much for your body.” Jihoon could smell it on Soonyoung’s scent that his decision was final, but the omega didn’t want to give up. He still had one ace up his sleeve. 

“Youngie please,” Jihoon grabbed his hair and slightly pulled at it while trying to look cutely at the other. “Please, knot me Youngie.”

Soonyoung’s pheromones flared up strongly, but his eyes were hard. “Don’t do that. You are not playing fair. I should have never told you that cuteness is my weakness.”

“Youngie please! Knot me! I’m yours. I belong to you. Please, I d-do anything f-for you, just ahh knot me. Please, p-please ahhh...” Jihoon could see immediately in Soonyoung’s eyes that he had won this fight. It seemed to be one hundred percent effective to moan the words that were riling an alpha up the most in a soft high pitched voice while looking at him through half-lidded eyes with unshed tears in them. A small smile spread over Jihoon’s lips until Soonyoung rammed again harshly into him and another loud moan ripped out of his throat instead. Jihoon was really close already, his walls kept on tightening around Soonyoung’s cock making him feel the thick vein on the underside of the alpha’s throbbing shaft. Jihoon fisted the sheets with one hand twisting them around, ripping at them in pure ecstasy.

When Jihoon’s cock and rim both started twitching strongly, Soonyoung seemed to lose his mind too. His eyes became pitch-black while his hips staggered slightly in his strong rhythm. Jihoon could feel the base of Soonyoung’s cock slowly expanding and his eyes fluttered shut out of pure contentment knowing that he would get knotted any second.

Soonyoung thrust three more times into him and with the fourth stroke he hardly pushed the already thick knot into Jihoon. Both of them moaned loudly at the feeling, looking at the other through half-lidded eyes. Jihoon finally lost it when Soonyoung’s knot pressed right against his prostate, making him spasm strongly and shoot his cum onto his belly.

Soonyoung rutted a couple of more times shallowly into Jihoon, moving the knot slightly around and came then deep inside of the omega filling him up so much that Jihoon had the feeling his stomach would bulge up from it.

“H-how can you, ah, come that much?” The smaller one panted out while Soonyoung rolled them over, so Jihoon could lay more comfortably on top of him.

“If you wouldn’t rile me up so much, then I would maybe come less.”

“Believe me, I haven’t even started to really rile you up.” Jihoon tried to change his position on top of Soonyoung a bit, but the knot immediately pressed hard against his prostate making him whimper in overstimulation.

“Are you okay?” Soonyoung asked him in a worried voice, but Jihoon simply grinned at him.

“Yes I’m perfect. This is perfect and you are perfect.”

“You’re always so reckless and demanding.” Soonyoung gently caressed Jihoon’s back, but the omega could hear a harsh edge in his voice. The older one was probably a bit pissed off that he hadn’t backed down when he told him that the knot was not good for his body.

“I can’t help it. Being together with you like this is the best feeling in the world,“ Jihoon told him happily.

“So you only love me for the sex?“ 

Jihoon made a discontent noise and wiggled around a bit so he could push himself up to look Soonyoung in the eye. “You know that’s not true. You are just fishing for compliments.” 

Soonyoung gave him a small smile. “Maybe, I am.“ 

“Every second together with you is precious. If it’s at work or on a date, sitting in the car together or having sex. I can’t be without you anymore. I really mean it.” 

Soonyoung was suddenly smiling at him as brightly as the sun and Jihoon remembered the time he went to the hospital when he got the suppressants from the doctor. He remembered the mated pair who was seated beside him still all too well. The alpha had been smiling so happily and full of love at his mate that it left a deep impression on Jihoon, especially because he couldn’t remember at that time having seen Soonyoung smile at him like this, radiating so much complete happiness. But the expression on Soonyoung’s face right now was very similar to the smile the alpha had that day and his pheromones gave off such strong contentment and happiness that Jihoon couldn’t help but feel completely satisfied and a bit proud. He finally made Soonyoung happy too.

The alpha noticed that Jihoon was spacing out, so he caressed his cheek and kissed him shortly. “I know. Because I feel the same. I can’t survive without you.” He leaned once more forward to kiss his partner. “I love you so much.”

“Me too. God, we are so sappy.” If someone would have told Jihoon some years ago that he would turn into such a softie declaring his love all the time, agreeing to all the stupid things his partner wanted to do because he was so deeply in love that he just wanted to make his other half happy, he would have laughed them loudly in the face. 

“You’ve become really good at controlling your omega mind. You didn’t slip away once.” Jihoon blinked a couple of times hearing the alpha’s words. He was right, he hadn’t even thought about it after a while. In the beginning it felt like he would slip away, but the feeling never came back later.

“I worried I would slip, but it was actually not that difficult. But then again, the sex we had was very controlled today. I don’t know how I would do in another situation.”

“So, the sex was better than the last time?” Jihoon hadn’t expected the question, it felt like cold water had hit him straight in the face.

“Soonyoung what I said before was only because I couldn’t handle my biology. You never did anything wrong, okay? Sex with you is amazing, never think differently. I enjoyed it so much. I actually would like to continue after the knot deflated,” Jihoon said eagerly but Soonyoung shook his head.

“It has been a long day, Jihoonie. Let’s just sleep.” 

Jihoon pouted, but let it slide for today. They could have sex another day again, hopefully very soon. The desire was already crawling under his skin just thinking about it.

“You’ll be there tomorrow morning, right Soon?”

“I’ll always be there for you,” Soonyoung told him gently. Jihoon sighed and finally lay his head on Soonyoung’s shoulder.

The bed that seemed too big and too cold for many weeks turned into Jihoon’s most favorite place again. He dearly wished that he didn’t need to spend any night alone anymore because every moment without Soonyoung seemed like a wasted one. It might be his overly clingy omega mind talking like this because they had just gotten back together, but no matter how hard Jihoon thought about it, he couldn’t find fault in it. Of course there would be times he couldn’t be together with Soonyoung, times when work made it impossible, times where his friends needed his attention too or times when they would have a stupid argument and stay away from each other for a while. Still, he believed that all the other times in his life, the good but also the bad ones he would spend together with Soonyoung by his side.

Soonyoung put the blanket over the two of them and leaned around to give Jihoon a chaste kiss. The smaller one closed his eyes because the warmth and comfortableness made him slowly sleepy. His thoughts were already fuzzy but the taste of Soonyoung’s lips kept on lingering on his and he was sure it was the flavor of infinity, happiness and everything he had ever wished for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) I’m back after a quite long break. First I worked on Mind Game which I uploaded around 2 weeks ago (if you still haven’t read it, please do hehe) and then I was sick. Actually I’m still sick but life goes on even if you are sick lol. I really missed writing but I simply wasn’t in the right mind to work on Code Red while being sick. But yeah, now I’m back with the most insanely long chapter ever. It’s over 14k D: I actually don’t like such long chapters in a chaptered fanfic. They are difficult to digest and I prefer chapters around 5k, so I can update faster. I thought about breaking this chapter in two parts but no matter how hard I tried to find a good point to break it apart, I couldn’t find one. This chapter more or less only describes one day and it would have been stupid to break it into two. Sooo, it just turned out that long. Also took me quite a while to write and edit everything D:
> 
> This chapter is a bit special because of the length and because I describe many scenes of one day in-depth which I haven’t done the same way before I think. I really enjoy writing these small episodes of their newfound relationship. And while this chapter is mostly nice and fluff and fun, it actually shows a lot of upcoming conflicts. Some of them are easier to see and some are more hidden. It will be interesting to resolve all of them in the future :D
> 
> It was actually a bit difficult after writing Mind Game, to write the smut scene here because it needed to be very different. These two here are super in love right now so it had to be appropriate for the situation. Wasn’t easy for me. Hopefully turned out okay. The smut scenes in CR are really changing and evolving with the story. It’s actually interesting to do it like this for once and they certainly will keep on evolving ;D
> 
> The next chapter will switch right back into Soonyoung’s pov. I’m curious if I’ll be able to make the chapter much shorter again. I’m still not sure because lately the chapters seem a lot shorter in my head than they turn out to be written down then haha.
> 
> Oh right, I also started working a bit through the old chapters and got rid of some mistakes and bad wordings. I will do that later again when I have the time for it. I don’t want to read through Code Red when it’s finished and need to feel ashamed because of all the mistakes lol. I also need to change the formatting at one point again. I think I finally got the hang of it now. Took me long enough haha.  
Hmm, I also changed some stylistic things in my writing. I think it’s not very noticeable though.
> 
> Thank you like always for reading and cheering me on. Thank you for your lovely comments and all the kudos and bookmarks T_T <3 And sorry you had to wait for so long. I also dislike late like this but sometimes it can’t be helped. I hope I’ll be able to update chapter 37 next week! I can never say for sure, so if you want to know when I’ll update exactly, feel free to add me on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel). I mostly post about my work process their :D
> 
> See you soon <3


	37. Expect the Unexpected

Soonyoung woke up in complete darkness. There was a heavy weight draped over his mostly naked body and the bed seemed to be rather unknown to him. Not unknown to him was the scent surrounding him, all calm and peaceful. Soonyoung smiled at the realization that he was in Jihoon’s bed and the omega was clinging close to him in his sleep. He tried going back to sleep because he felt warm and comfortable but couldn’t fall asleep anymore. After carding gently through Jihoon’s hair and giving him a small peck on his cheek, the alpha got up and walked as quietly as possible to the bathroom. After he went to the toilet, he walked into the kitchen to fetch some water from the fridge. There was nothing besides energy drinks, coke and an expired package of sandwiches in the fridge. The alpha sighed and got a glass of tap water before searching for his phone in the living room that he had placed there the evening before. 

When he turned the display on, the bright light was blending his sensitive eyes. He blinked away the tears threatening to fall and looked at the time. It was only 5:10 AM. He should sleep for another hour but the empty fridge was bothering him, so instead of sleeping, he took a quick shower and got dressed to walk down to the convenience store. On the way there he thought about all the things that had happened the day before. Everything had been perfect, the date and Jihoon’s suggestion to come back as team leader to the police station. Only one thing had went not like it was supposed to. Soonyoung wasn’t meant to go with Jihoon to his flat and sleep with him. The alpha still wasn’t sure how everything had happened that fast. Jihoon’s pheromones had given off an extreme desperation and need that had been difficult for Soonyoung to ignore. Furthermore, he had been strangely emotional the whole day, even buying a childish bracelet for Jihoon, marking his territory like an immature alpha. Everything together had led him to not being able to say no to the omega. He had wanted him too much. 

He didn’t particularly regret the night because it was difficult to regret something that felt completely right but he felt a deep yearning for taking it slower now. He didn’t want to fall into the trap of desire again. The last time they had been dating, it had just destroyed everything and even if the situation was vastly different now, Jihoon still had some insecurities as an omega. In this situation, rushing things didn’t seem like the best choice.

Soonyoung finally arrived at the convenience store and brought all the food that Jihoon liked. He got some fruits and juices as well because otherwise the omega might die from vitamin deficiency one day. He paid for the things and went back to Jihoon’s flat. He put the bags with the food on the counter and looked at the clock again. It was almost 6 AM now, he could wake Jihoon soon but before that, he would put the food and drinks into the fridge.

Just when Soonyoung started to take out everything from the bags, he could hear the bedroom door open loudly with a bang. Already a few seconds later, Jihoon stood slightly panting in the door of the kitchen, looking completely out of his mind. He rushed forward to pull Soonyoung into a hug, his pheromones flickering in distress through the room.

“You promised me to be there when I wake up! I thought you were gone!” The omega said in a voice that was still heavy with sleep but slightly teared up as well. 

Soonyoung pulled the smaller one even closer and patted his back gently. “I’m sorry. I woke up at 5 AM and saw that your fridge is empty so I went to the convenience store to buy a few things. I thought it would be nice if we could eat breakfast before going to work.”

“Don’t do that again,” Jihoon muttered. “I can’t cope with you being gone suddenly. One day it probably will get better but right now it makes me so scared. I know it’s irrational but I can’t control it.”

Soonyoung gave him a small kiss on his neck and hugged Jihoon tightly once more. “Sorry, it won’t happen again. I’m really sorry.”

They stood like this for a while until Jihoon’s scent had calmed down but it was difficult now for Soonyoung to stop worrying about the younger. “Jihoonie, are you okay? Are you in pain because of yesterday? Let’s sit down and eat something.”

Soonyoung wanted to know if he was in pain because of the knot and from the sudden spike in pheromones, Jihoon was knowing what he was talking about too. 

“I don’t want to eat anything. I would rather like it if you could knot me now.”

That wasn’t the reaction Soonyoung had expected. Jihoon’s pheromones flared up even more and he leaned back to look the alpha in the eye while giving him a lazy smile. Soonyoung didn’t know what to think about the omega’s behavior.

“I won’t knot you again now. I already told you that it’s too much for your body to take. You must be very sore from yesterday. Knotting you again is out of the question,” Soonyoung said seriously. Jihoon clicked with his tongue in annoyance but still looked at the profiler with a heated gaze. 

“My body is fine. In fact it feels amazing. I can still feel what you did to me yesterday. It’s really satisfying and I just need more. Your knot just feels so good, Soon. Please, come on, just fuck me and fill me up again.” Jihoon pulled the alpha down by the neck to kiss him but Soonyoung shrugged the smaller one off.

“Jihoonie, I know an alpha-omega-relationship is very physical and I’m not against that at all but we should take it slow given our past. Also it’s just too much for your body!” Soonyoung was now very irritated with his boyfriend but Jihoon seemed to be just as confused because his face noticeably darkened, his pheromones losing some of their sweetness.

“We only had one round of sex and you want to tell me that it’s too much for my body? Do you think I haven’t studied in the meanwhile about sex between alpha and omega? Do you believe I don’t know that what we did yesterday is hardly anything? An alpha should get it up easily three to seven times even when neither the omega is in heat nor the alpha is in a rut. How many times can you get it up, Soon?” 

Soonyoung wanted to step away from Jihoon but the omega caught his wrist in a hard grip. “Is that really a talk for breakfast?” The alpha asked lowly.

“As I said, I don’t want to eat something right now. I want you to fuck and knot me and maybe then I’ll eat something.” Jihoon took Soonyoung’s hand and laid it onto his naked body. “Don’t you want this?”

Soonyoung would have been lying if he said that the situation wasn’t tempting to him. Of course he was tempted to just take the omega again and knot him. The alpha inside of him was practically begging for it but he was too stubborn and too level-headed to give in to his instincts that easily. “I know you want to rile me up but it’s not working.” 

Jihoon huffed in annoyance. “I think it is working. And if it’s really not working then I’ll just try even harder.”

Soonyoung turned away from Jihoon and went to the coffee machine to make some coffee. 

“Jihoon, your behavior is worrying,” he said quietly while Jihoon sat down on a chair and went through the food Soonyoung had bought.

“I know what you are thinking but this is different than the last time. The doctor said that my hormones might be still slightly off because I took the suppressants in between for some days, but this really is not like the last time. I’m just three weeks away from my heat and I missed you so much and… fuck, I’m just horny, okay?“

Soonyoung turned around again and saw Jihoon glaring at him. Suddenly the whole situation seemed all too ridiculous and the alpha started laughing loudly.

“This is not funny! I don’t know what is funny about me being desperate for sex and you not doing anything about it!” Jihoon spat out furiously but it just made Soonyoung laugh even more. After a while, the younger one couldn’t keep up the angry act and started laughing as well.

Soonyoung poured two cups of coffee and brought them over to the table and sat down opposite of Jihoon. The omega fetched the cup of coffee at once, inhaling the scent of the black liquid deeply before taking a sip.

“Let’s eat and then I have to leave for work. After all, I have to talk to my superior about my resignation.”

Jihoon nodded and grabbed a package of the sandwiches he liked so much. There was a small smile on his face and Soonyoung was sure that the younger one was happy that he still remembered his favorite food. They spend the breakfast eating quietly, only asking now and then a question about work. When Soonyoung got up after finishing his food, Jihoon jumped up as well and followed him to the front door. Before the alpha could say anything, Jihoon pulled him close to hug him again. This time it was a different kind of hug because he laid his throat against Soonyoung’s neck, rubbing slightly against him. He was scenting him subtly. Soonyoung melted at the gesture.

“Are you going immediately to work?” Jihoon asked after they finished hugging.

“I’ll go home and change my clothes and then go to work,” Soonyoung answered wondering why the other was asking that question.

“That’s good, even when you change your clothes people will still smell my scent on you. I want everyone to know you‘re taken.”

Soonyoung laughed airly at Jihoon’s words. Before, he hadn’t known if the smaller one had scented him on purpose or unknowingly but now he was sure Jihoon had done it with the thought in mind that everyone should stay away from his partner. It was an uncommon behavior for an omega but Soonyoung thought it was rather cute. “You sound like a possessive alpha.” 

“And you sound not enough like a possessive alpha.”

Jihoon was full of surprises this morning. First the needy behavior and now this. As well as Jihoon was handling his omega biology now, these were probably things he didn’t think about but his body simply worked on instinct. It was difficult to imagine for Soonyoung that Jihoon really understood what he was talking about, even less that he would actually like it. Jihoon was too dominant himself that he could stand the possessive way of an alpha.

“So you want me to be more aggressive as alpha?” 

“Sometimes it wouldn’t be so bad,” the smaller one said carefully while stroking his boyfriend’s arm. Soonyoung knitted his brows in confusion. He hadn’t expected a talk like this, especially not this soon.

“Jihoonie, I’m not sure you know what you are talking about. What you’ve seen up to now… let’s just say I’m good at holding myself in check. If I would let go of my control, you might not like it.”

“That’s bullshit, Soon,” Jihoon said angrily. Soonyoung ignored the interruption and kept on talking calmly.

“You have a very strong personality and I don’t want to pressure you into things you don’t like. I’m okay with how things are between us right now. It feels good and right. Maybe one day we can think about doing things differently.”

Jihoon wanted to argue back at once but Soonyoung put a hand over his mouth. “Let’s talk about this another time again, okay? It’s a complicated topic and I really have to leave for work now. I want to have the conversation with my superior as soon as possible, so I can leave the National Intelligence Service soon.”

The omega hesitated to answer. Soonyoung could feel that the other wasn’t completely happy with him finishing the topic just like this but he really believed that this was a talk they shouldn’t have right here and right now. It also would be good if Jihoon had some time to think about what they just talked about.

“Okay, take care, Soon.” Jihoon pulled the older one down and kissed him shortly on the lips.

“You too, shortcake. We’ll meet soon again.”

Jihoon held onto his sleeve for a moment before finally letting the alpha go. Soonyoung gave him a warm smile and left then the flat.

Jihoon never failed to surprise him. Soonyoung should always expect the unexpected from now on.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The week had been overly stressful for Soonyoung. Even though he had told Jihoon that they would meet soon again, he had been busy every day, unable to meet his boyfriend. When he had met with his superior on Monday telling him that he wanted to resign from his job at the National Intelligence Service, his chief had been rather surprised and not very happy about his decision. He knew of his dispute with Kim and had planned on transferring Soonyoung but a resignation wasn’t something he wished for because he saw great potential in the alpha. Soonyoung had a long discussion with him that he would under no circumstances stay at the National Intelligence Service and in the end his superior approved his resignation. However, he had one condition of letting the profiler go: He needed to close the open case.

Soonyoung worked day and night on finding the killer to finish the case and ended up not meeting Jihoon for a couple of days. The omega had reassured him that it was okay but he couldn’t help worrying about the situation when he had a spare minute. Jihoon had been so scared when he woke up alone on Monday morning and that memory kept on tormenting Soonyoung. Of course, he knew that Jihoon could do well alone but they were both in a phase where it was difficult for them to be separated for a long time. It wasn’t a question of trust, it was more a problem of the endless longing and the worry that the other would feel bad while being alone. That was exactly the reason why Soonyoung had to end the case fast. He had to return to Jihoon’s side as soon as possible and he finally wanted to finish this horrible chapter in his life at the National Intelligence Service.

On Tuesday, they finally arrested a suspect who confessed the murder of two people on the same day. Now Soonyoung only had left writing the report and pack up his things to leave the National Intelligence Service for good. He was bound and determined to finish everything until Friday evening. 

In a spare minute, he wrote Jihoon a message telling him he finished the case and would be done at the National Intelligence Service on Friday evening. He was rather surprised at the answer he got.

**The chief said you can start working on Monday. We’ll expect you tomorrow at 8 PM in our usual restaurant to celebrate your return. ** _Thursday, 17:21_

Soonyoung didn’t have the time yet to talk to his old chief inspector about returning to the police station while being busy with the case at the National Intelligence Service. When he read Jihoon’s message he didn’t know if he should feel bad that his boyfriend had talked to the chief or even annoyed because it obviously had been his responsibility. But then again, he knew that Jihoon wasn’t a patient person, so he couldn’t blame him for taking matters into his own hands. He probably had been restless while waiting for Soonyoung, not even working on a case at the police station at the moment.

**I’ll be there. Don’t you have something else to tell me? ** _Thursday, 17:24_

**Yes, you were slow with solving the case** _Thursday, 17:25_

Soonyoung laughed loudly reading Jihoon’s answer.

**I missed you too, cupcake** _Thursday, 17:27_

**I’m not food** _Thursday, 17:28_

**But you’re as pretty as a cupcake, angel** _Thursday, 17:30_

**Watch me cancel our get-together tomorrow** _Thursday, 17:31_

**Okay, see you then on Monday at work** _Thursday, 17:32_

Soonyoung knew that Jihoon would be furious right now but sometimes he couldn’t help himself when the omega was just so cute being angry. Also, he knew that the other didn’t hate the pet names as much as he always pretended to do. The red tips of his ears were always betraying his harsh words. 

The alpha shook his head in amusement and went back to writing the report of the case. A few minutes afterward another two messages of Jihoon arrived.

**Don’t you dare not showing up tomorrow** _Thursday, 17:39_

**I miss you so much** _Thursday, 17:40_

Soonyoung typed in a final answer and went back to write his report. He had a long night in front of him.

**I miss you more, marshmallow** _Thursday, 17:41_

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung stood in front of the restaurant looking at the front door, not feeling like going in yet even though he was already half an hour late. There was a strong breeze this evening and he was freezing a bit, having chosen to wear only a thin sweater under a blazer jacket. His hair kept on being blown into his face, ticking him off slightly. But even more bothersome than the wind was going into the restaurant for the alpha. He didn’t have a lot of time before coming here to think about what to tell the others, how to apologize for never reaching out to them and how to deal with Jeonghan who would most probably leash out on him. He really should trust the people waiting inside for him to welcome him back easily but even after working together with them for a while, it wasn’t a feed that came easily to Soonyoung. He just had been alone for far too long.

The door of the restaurant suddenly opened from the inside and the loud noises and different scents felt like a punch in the face to Soonyoung. The slight distress of the sudden assault of his senses melted away at once when he saw Jihoon emerging from the restaurant with a happy smile on his face and a slight tint of red on his cheeks.

“I knew you would be standing here worrying whether to go inside or not,” the omega said teasingly, flashing him a big grin. “Come inside, it’s cold today. Also, everyone is waiting already. I have been waiting.”

Jihoon stepped close to Soonyoung and grabbed one of his hands, his smile faltering at once. “You’re hands are freezing.”

“Are you worried I’ll catch a cold? Maybe you can warm me up a bit?” It was a joke but Jihoon seemed to take it very seriously and pulled Soonyoung down to kiss him heatedly. When the smaller one’s tongue slipped into his mouth, Soonyoung completely forgot where they were and wrapped his arms around Jihoon to caress his warm back. They kissed deeply until they needed to break apart for some well-needed air. Jihoon’s eyes were slightly hazy, his pheromones much too excited for only having kissed.

“Let’s go home. We haven’t seen each other for far too long” the omega said lowly while trying to pull Soonyoung into another kiss but the alpha resisted him.

“Didn’t you just say that the others are waiting inside? I think they wouldn’t appreciate it if we leave just like this.” Soonyoung could see how Jihoon suddenly fell out of the trance he was in.

“Yeah, let’s go inside,” Jihoon said like nothing had happened and pulled Soonyoung by the hand into the restaurant. The alpha could already see from the entrance that everyone was sitting at the table they had been occupying the last time too. Soonyoung pushed the nervousness he was feeling fast away and replaced it with a smile. He could do this, for Jihoon but also for himself.

The greeting was a lot less awkward than he had expected it to be. Everyone welcomed him back like he never had been away - everyone besides Jeonghan. The omega wasn’t particularly unfriendly but he could feel that he had more to say to him than only a friendly greeting.

There were two empty seats beside Vernon at the end of the table. Soonyoung sat down next to the younger alpha who gave him a friendly smile, Jeonghan sat right opposite of him and Soonyoung couldn’t help feeling slightly bothered by it - but running away was no option.

“Long time no seen, Soonyoung. Say, what would you have done if you two didn’t meet by coincidence on a case?” Jeonghan had a lazy smile on his face and Soonyoung wasn’t sure if he was just curious or if the question was meant as an attack.

“Hyung! Do you have to start a fight as soon as Soonyoung sat down?” Jihoon said and gave Jeonghan a sharp look but the older omega shrugged unimpressed.

“I’m not fighting, I’m just curious. It’s a question I kept on asking myself lately.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “Don’t think about other person’s business!!”

“You’re my friend and not just some other person though.”

Soonyoung grabbed Jihoon’s arm in an attempt to calm the omega down. They came here to have a nice evening and not fight each other. He would simply answer all of Jeonghan’s question. He was owning that to Jihoon’s friends who probably had a tough time dealing with consoling Jihoon after their breakup.

“It’s okay, Jihoonie. After all, we did come here to talk, didn’t we?” 

Jihoon murmured something that sounded suspiciously like “I’ll kill hyung if he’s annoying” and leaned back in his chair.

“I don’t know, Jeonghan-hyung what would have happened if the case wouldn’t have brought Jihoon and I back together. But I believe it was destiny.” His words sounded awfully corny in his ears but he really believed that the two of them were meant to meet again. Otherwise, they would have stayed unhappy all their life and Jihoon didn’t deserve that.

“Aren’t you making it awfully easy for you right now? You left Jihoonie broken behind, never contacted anyone and you even changed your phone number like a coward.”

“Yes, I know. But I have been hurting too and…”

Jeonghan didn’t give the alpha time to explain himself but interrupted him at once. “Then you should have contacted Jihoon again, so you could have worked out your differences!”

Soonyoung opened his mouth to answer but Jihoon suddenly jumped up from his chair and it fell over backward with a loud thud.

“CAN YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?” The omega half-screamed at his friend, barely holding himself back from getting even louder in the restaurant. “What use is it blaming this on Soonyoung now? We both did things wrong but the one who was largely at fault had been me. Soonyoung and I sorted out our differences and are dating again, so could you kindly be happy for us?”

Jeonghan cleared his throat loudly and looked at his mate beside him who simply mouthed a “he’s right” at him. 

“Sorry, I might have gone overboard… it’s good that you are back Soonyoung. We all missed you. I just had been so worried for Jihoon in the last months.”

“I know, I’m sorry too. I have a lot make up for,” Soonyoung said quietly. He didn’t only leave Jihoon behind but all of his colleagues who have become good friends to him in the short while he stayed at the police station. He wanted to tell Jeonghan exactly that when he smelled Jihoon’s pheromones turning from the usual sweet scent to a strongly burnt one.

“Stop making Soonyoung feel bad already! We decided to not feel guilty about the past anymore so we can move on and have a healthy relationship, you know?!” Jihoon’s pheromones flared out strongly and wrapped around Soonyoung protectively. Jeonghan’s eyes widened comically when he noticed that. It was an alpha thing to get that protective over their partner and try to shield them with their pheromones. While Jeonghan was startled at Jihoon’s behavior, Soonyoung wasn’t surprised at all. He had seen the younger one acting like that already a few times now.

“You’re right, it wasn’t my place to meddle like this. You’re doing quite well, aren’t you? It seems like you suddenly have no problems at all.”

Soonyoung looked at his boyfriend who smiled sheepishly at him. They were both far away from having no problems but they were happy and not hurting each other anymore. They were doing as well as possible in their given situation.

“We’re just trying to make things work this time,” Soonyoung told Jeonghan and now the older omega sincerely smiled back at him. He couldn’t even be angry at Jeonghan because Soonyoung knew that the secretary only meant well. He loved Jihoon as a younger brother and wanted to protect him and the alpha understood the need to protect Jihoon all too well. He felt it constantly crawling under his skin. 

Soonyoung fell into an easy conversation with Jeonghan and Seungcheol afterward. He heard about some things happening in the three months that Jihoon hadn’t talked about yet and the alpha also provided some intel about what he had been up to when he was gone. Their talk went on for a while but got interrupted for good when Jihoon decided to do an announcement.

“Actually, I have something to say.” Jihoon got up from his chair while looking slightly distressed. Soonyoung wondered for a moment what his boyfriend wanted to say until it hit him that the younger one probably hadn’t told the other’s that Soonyoung would take over the team leader position again. Somehow he had expected Jihoon to tell everyone at work but it made sense that he was announcing this when Soonyoung was present.

“I’m resigning from my position as team leader,” Jihoon said and the whole table started whispering at once. “And Soonyoung will come back as the team leader.” 

Soonyoung could see the lack of understanding in some of their friend’s eyes. Jihoon had told him back at the amusement park that everyone kept on saying that he did a good job and Soonyoung was sure that they really did believe so. That’s why it must have come as a shock to them that Jihoon would resign from his job. After all, he had wanted this position so much in the beginning and had never told them how unhappy he had been with being the team leader in the end.

“I’m not doing this for Soonyoung but I’m doing it for myself. I wasn’t as happy with the team leader position as I expected to be. Maybe one day in the future I’ll try again but right now I’m happy when the team has a more competent leader again.”

The first to get over the shock of the sudden news was Wonwoo and maybe to him the news didn’t even come as such a big surprise. After all he knew Jihoon better than anyone else. “When did you decide it?” 

“I proposed the idea to Soonyoung last Sunday. He quit his job on Monday and I talked to the chief on Tuesday but I wanted to tell you together with Soonyoung. He needed to wrap up things at the National Intelligence Service first.”

Wonwoo nodded his head and looked at Soonyoung. He gave the alpha a knowing smile before speaking up again. “So you really quit your job at the National Intelligence Service.”

“I noticed it wasn’t something that made me happy. But it makes me happy to work together with all of you.”

Jeonghan laughed airly hearing what Sooyoung had said. “You really have a way with words. How to even be angry with you?”

Soonyoung guessed that it was Jeonghan’s way of saying that he wouldn’t be angry with him anymore and the alpha felt a heavy weight lifting from his shoulders. He felt a smile tugging at his lips and Jihoon seemed to notice his mood change too. The omega grinned at him before raising his half-empty glass of cola and rum into the air.

“We should celebrate this today, right? Also that we are back together.”

“Also Wonwoo’s and Mingyu’s upcoming wedding! I wasn’t there when you two announced it after all.” Soonyoung added. Everyone cheered, clinking glasses loudly. Soonyoung turned around to Vernon beside him. The younger alpha noticed the attention at once and tore his eyes away from Seungkwan who was sitting beside him.

“So you two are dating now?” Soonyoung asked Vernon who nodded his head at once.

“Yes, for almost three months already. Though we hid our relationship in the beginning.”

Jihoon whipped his head around hearing that and it wasn’t difficult for Soonyoung to guess why the younger pair had hidden their relationship. The alpha felt a sting in his heart. Many people had suffered from Jihoon and his breakup in one way or the other. Even though he had decided with Jihoon to let go of their past, it was a whole different subject when others were involved. Soonyoung really wanted to make it up to the others, at least by being a good friend from now on. Something he hadn’t been very talented at for many years but he was determined to learn anew. Every single person at this table was worth it to try his hardest because they felt more like family than his own family had ever done.

“There was no need to do that. It was very stupid of you two,” Jihoon said annoyedly and took a big gulp from his drink.

“But your eyes always looked so sad, hyung,” Vernon argued but it just seemed to spurt Jihoon’s angriness on even more.

“You’re younger than I am! You shouldn’t have to be considerate because of me but just enjoy yourself.”

“But…” Soonyoung laid a hand on Vernon’s shoulder and shook his head. This seemed to be a sensitive topic for Jihoon. The scars from the months they spent alone wouldn’t heal at once. They both still needed time to forget the loneliness and fears they experienced for many weeks. But Soonyoung was sure everything would fade into a faraway memory soon because they were able to heal each other.

While thinking about how to save this situation, Soonyoung caught the gaze of Wonwoo and Mingyu who sat opposite to Vernon and Seungkwan. They seemed to be interested in their exchange as well but Soonyoung thought their attention was a good opportunity to change the subject.

“So who was the one who proposed?” Soonyoung asked while looking curiously at the engaged pair. Jihoon beside him relaxed at once hearing the question and Soonyoung cheered on the inside having ended the conflict that smoothly.

“I proposed, of course. Otherwise we would never marry. Wonwoo isn’t the type to think about things like that,” Mingyu said while grinning widely. 

“Are you saying that he’s not a romantic?” Soonyoung wondered out loud. Wonwoo seemed indeed like the type who didn’t care too much about romance and kitsch but Soonyoung was sure that he loved Mingyu a lot. So he probably was capable of striking a balance.

“No, I’m saying that he simply doesn’t think about unnecessary things. If he’s happy with how things are going, why change them.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad. You make it sound like I’m a horrible person,” Wonwoo tried to defend himself but in reality, he didn’t seem to be all that bothered by their talk.

“Well, you pretty much ruined the whole proposal. You can’t deny that you suck at these things...”

“What happened?” Soonyoung interrupted Mingyu. He didn’t want these two starting now an argument too. It seemed like whatever Soonyoung said this evening, someone always got angry.

“I didn’t want to make a big thing out of the proposal because I knew Wonwoo doesn’t like extravagant things, so I only reserved a table in a nice restaurant. After we had arrived there, I tried to talk about our future and make it slightly obvious what was happening but Wonwoo just ignored the whole atmosphere and started talking about this insanely boring book he was reading.”

“It’s not boring at all!” It was the first time Wonwoo sounded very offended this evening and everyone had to laugh about the reaction.

“That’s beside the point! You ruined the whole atmosphere and I was frankly speaking already in complete despair but I thought “whatever, who cares about such superficial things as long as the proposal goes well”.”

“Let me guess, it didn’t go well?” Soonyoung asked. Mingyu made a sour face and took a sip of his drink before continuing the story.

“It was horrible! I gave the staff the ring and told them to put it into Wonwoo dessert. I planned everything so nicely. When he would have found the ring in the dessert and asked “what is this?”, I wanted to answer “it’s my heart”. But do you know what he did? He refused to eat the dessert! I started arguing with him that he shouldn’t waste food and he suddenly got up and walked to the table beside ours to give the dessert to a little girl. I totally panicked at that point. It was the worst-case scenario! I was close to crying. Everything was ruined.”

Soonyoung’s thoughts drifted off for a moment. While he had often imagined how the perfect date should be when he was younger, he had never thought about how he would propose. In an alpha-omega relationship, there rarely proposed one to the other because alpha and omega simply mated when the time felt right. With Jihoon sitting beside him now, he wasn’t sure if a simple talk about mating was enough when the time had come. Their relationship felt too precious, too special for something simple. He had to reconsider his choices in the future, after all, he wanted Jihoon to be perfectly happy.

Jihoon nudged Soonyoung into the side when he saw his boyfriend spacing out. The alpha gave him an apologetic smile and concentrated again on the conversation.

“It wasn’t that bad. You saved the situation quite well. How you proposed was very charming, Gyu,” Wonwoo said while not being able to stifle a laugh.

“Yeah, just laugh about me.” Mingyu pouted, refusing to look at his fiancé.

“How long will you stay angry at me? I already apologized.”

Mingyu stopped pouting at once and looked at Wonwoo again. His gaze was gentle and Soonyoung could see the love in it.

“I’m not angry. I’m never angry at you, you know that well.”

Just like that, their argument had ended and Soonyoung felt contentment settle in the pit of his stomach. He looked to his side and saw Jihoon watching him. He mouthed a “what?” at him but the younger one didn’t answer him. Instead, he grabbed his hand under the table before downing the rest of his drink.

“Aren’t you drinking quite a lot today?” Soonyoung asked his boyfriend slightly worried. It had been his second drink if he had seen right and the red sheen on his cheeks when he came outside to fetch him earlier was pointing to the fact that the younger one had drunken alcohol even before he had arrived. Jihoon didn’t hold his liquor well, so three drinks seemed to be a lot when the evening had only started an hour ago.

“Nooo, I’m fine. It’s just a beautiful day and we have a lot to celebrate.” Jihoon grinned at him and winked the waiter over to order another drink. Soonyoung on the other hand decided against ordering more alcohol and chose a soft drink. He had the feeling that he needed to be sober later for one reason or the other.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon had said he wasn’t drinking too much alcohol but Soonyoung knew it better when he carried the omega into their flat because he couldn’t even walk anymore.

“I wanted to seduce you, but I‘m too drunk for that now,” Jihoon slurred when Soonyoung had put him onto the couch in the living room. “Will you stay with me tonight?”

“Of course marshmallow.” Soonyoung sat down beside Jihoon on the couch who fell against his side at once.

“Don’t call me that stupid name!” The omega half yelled and hit Soonyoung wherever he could reach but barely did any damage because he was plain too drunk to put strength into his punch.

“Honey, don’t be like that,” the profiler chuckled, not quite sure if he should be simply amused by his drunken boyfriend or worried over the fact that the other would feel horrible the next day.

“Don’t call me honey, it makes me horny. You only call me honey while having sex.” 

Soonyoung raised an eyebrow hearing Jihoon’s words. He had never noticed that he only called the other honey while doing something sexual but the other was absolutely right. What was even more interesting than him calling Jihoon honey while having sex was the fact that the pet name seemed to rile up the omega. He would remember that for future activities.

“Okay, baby.” Soonyoung expected Jihoon to try hitting him again, instead, he let out a loud whine. “That makes me horny too!”

“Which other nicknames make you horny? This is interesting information.” Soonyoung pushed the smaller one up again who looked back at him with glassy eyes. His cheeks were tinted a deep red and if Soonyoung wouldn’t have held him up, he would have probably just fallen to the side again.

“Don’t tease me. Ahhh, why am I so wasted?? I had planned out how to seduce you so well but I can’t even move anymore,” the omega babbled, Soonyoung just barely understanding what his boyfriend was saying.

“What did you plan to do?”

“Not gonna tell.” Jihoon pouted and wrapped his arms clumsily around Soonyoung. The alpha was very interested in what the omega had planned exactly but maybe it was better if he didn’t know. It would just make things harder for him. No pun intended.

Soonyoung played with Jihoon’s hair for a while believing the younger one had fallen asleep when he suddenly shouted loudly. “This is so frustrating!!”

The alpha was so startled that he loosened his grip on Jihoon for a moment and the omega slipped out of his hold falling face-first onto the couch. Soonyoung picked him up at once wanting to make him sit up again but the younger one was struggling and refusing his help in his drunken state of mind. Jihoon still ended up somehow sitting on Soonyoung’s lap, his head lying heavily on the alpha’s shoulder. The profiler didn’t mind it all that much. 

“Are you very frustrated with me?” Soonyoung asked. Jihoon huffed against his neck, wriggling on the older one’s lap to find a better position.

“Only a bit. But it’s okay, I know you want me and will give in soon. I‘m confident in my ability to seduce you.” Jihoon hiccuped and tried to lean back to look at Soonyoung but gave up after lifting his head only an inch from his shoulder. 

“Why are you so dead set on having sex all the time?”

“Horny,” Jihoon mumbled. Soonyoung wanted to laugh about the answer at first but the laughter got stuck in his throat. It made the alpha insecure that Jihoon kept on being like this. Even if the other had said that it wasn’t like the insane need to have sex when they first started dating, he couldn’t help wondering if it was the truth or not. He didn’t think that Jihoon was lying on purpose but maybe he didn’t notice that his hormones were out of control again. And if that wasn’t the case, there were only two other explanations to his behavior but he didn’t know which one was it in the omega’s case.

“Is it because of your upcoming heat or is that a general thing for you?”

Jihoon slurred something Soonyoung couldn’t understand and the alpha wanted to ask his boyfriend to repeat what he had just said but the younger one was already changing the topic.

“Soon, what turns you on so much that you‘ll snap?” 

Soonyoung sighed and stroked Jihoon’s back gently. He didn’t know what was going on in his partners head right now but maybe he shouldn’t think too deep about it. The omega was completely drunk after all.

“Didn’t you say you were confident in seducing me? You don’t need this information then, right?” 

“Soooon, why won’t you tell me?” Jihoon whined and finally sat up to look Soonyoung in the eye. He was holding on strongly to the profiler’s sweater to not fall off his lap and Soonyoung was worried for a moment that the smaller one would rip his shirt.

“I‘ll tell you another day,” Soonyoung said but Jihoon didn’t look happy with the answer at all.

“Do you know what would turn me on? Jealous sex. I heard the sex is really good when the alpha is jealous.” The omega pulled Soonyoung even closer by the sweater until their faces were only an inch apart. “Why won’t you be jealous? Whyyy? Why??”

Soonyoung was slightly irritated by Jihoon’s sudden outbreak. Who even told him something like that? Jealousy was never a good advisor. It was a much too strong and ugly feeling. If Soonyoung would get lost in such a feeling it wouldn’t turn out well. 

“I don’t think I need to be jealous for us to have good sex though.” 

“Will you do me then the next time more than once?”

Soonyoung gripped the smaller one tightly and stood up to carry him to bed. This conversation would probably never end otherwise.

“Yeah, I will,” he told him quietly on the way to the bedroom. 

“How many times? I want at least three rounds.” Jihoon’s pheromones spiked but it died down after only a moment. Even though the omega kept on talking about sex, he was clearly too drunk and tired for it.

Soonyoung chuckled and put the omega on the bed. He wanted to help the other take off his clothes but Jihoon immediately grabbed the blanket and pulled it over him, his eyes falling shut at once. 

“Let’s wait and see, Jihoonie,” he told his boyfriend but the younger one’s breathing had already evened out. He had fallen asleep.

“Just give it a bit more time, Jihoonie. Don’t be too frustrated. I’m only trying to take it slow, so we’ll have a better start into our relationship this time.”

Even though Soonyoung said that out loud, he couldn’t even believe his own words. He had already went against them when he slept with Jihoon in the last week and now he was simply panicking that they were going too fast again. He hoped that Jihoon understood his worries at least a bit.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung had been awake already for two hours but he only went to the bathroom and stayed otherwise in bed. He didn’t want to shock Jihoon again by being gone so he waited until the omega finally opened his eyes close to 9 PM. Instead of being delighted seeing the alpha first thing in the morning, he looked like he wanted to murder Soonyoung any second.

“How are you feeling, whiskey sour?” Soonyoung asked in a light voice but Jihoon’s eyes narrowed at once, obviously not happy with the new pet name.

“Did you really just call me whiskey sour? At least call me sex on the beach.”

“But you look like whiskey sour right now,” Soonyoung said while grinning at his boyfriend. Jihoon sat up but fell back onto the bed at once.

“Be happy that my head is hurting like fuck or I would have murdered you now.”

“I would never be happy about you being in pain.” Soonyoung robbed a bit closer on the bed to stroke Jihoon’s hair tenderly but the omega swatted the hand away in annoyance.

“Shut up, I can’t stand this lovey-doveyness right now. I feel like vomiting.”

“Aren’t you cute while hangover? Come on, get up. I’ll bring you a glass of water and a painkiller.”

Jihoon glared at the alpha but sat up slowly nevertheless. Soonyoung managed to convince the younger one to get out of bed after taking a painkiller to sit down in the kitchen. The alpha wanted to eat something but Jihoon outright forbade him to take out any food or else he couldn’t guarantee not getting sick at once. At least he could convince his boyfriend that smelling coffee wouldn’t make him vomit, so he fixed himself a cup of coffee. Soonyoung sincerely hoped that Jihoon wouldn’t drink so much again any time soon. He couldn’t deny the fact that the other’s grumpy behavior was kind of cute but seeing the other feeling so bad wasn’t doing well with his alpha mind.

They sat quietly at the table, Soonyoung with a cup of coffee in his hand and Jihoon with a glass of water. They simply stared at each other and the only thing that could be heard was the low buzzing of the refrigerator. The sound was bothering Soonyoung very much but he decided to not annoy Jihoon with such information while hungover. He probably couldn’t care less at the moment.

Soonyoung thought about what he should say to his moody boyfriend and was surprised when the younger once spoke first.

“Soon, move in with me.”

Soonyoung let almost slip the cup out of his hand but managed to grip it again fast with only spilling a bit of coffee onto the table. He hadn’t expected Jihoon to ask him to move in, not at all. Especially not in the current situation with Jihoon being in a bad mood and hungover.

“Isn’t that too fast?” The alpha asked carefully, not wanting to hurt the other’s feelings but Jihoon didn’t look bothered at all by his question.

“We wasted so much time already. I hate it when I’m alone in the flat, I miss you constantly. I just want to go home with you, fall asleep with you and wake up with you again. I want to eat breakfast with you and spend my weekends with you. And I want to do that not only once in a while but every single day. I don’t care if it’s too fast because this is what my heart is yearning for.” The omega made a short break and it seemed like he was searching for more arguments to convince Soonyoung to move in with him. “Also, it doesn’t even make sense for you to search for a new flat. It takes time and energy we need for work and other important things,” Jihoon said slowly before adding more with a sly smile on his face. “And you’ll be here one way or the other all the time. So why bother? Come on, say yes Soon! I’ll make it worthwhile for you.”

If he would have been the Soonyoung from some months ago, he would have outright said no. Now he was sitting in the kitchen of Jihoon contemplating if he should just screw everything he believed in and go with the flow and move in. There were a thousand good reasons to not move in with his boyfriend after just getting back together again but somehow his brain couldn’t calm down his fastly beating heart that was very much excited by the thought of seeing Jihoon every day. Expect the unexpected he had told himself just some days ago. Maybe he should not only expect the unexpected but accept the unexpected as well.

“We need to buy a new refrigerator. The buzzing is insanely annoying,” the alpha said before he could stop himself. Jihoon’s laughter rang out like a Siren’s song and all worries left Soonyoung’s mind immediately. 

“Why can you never just say yes in a normal way?” Jihoon said in a slightly annoyed tone but his eyes were sparkling brightly and Soonyoung still couldn’t calm down his wildly beating heart. The other had his heart in such tight grasp but the alpha didn’t care all that much. He could see in Jihoon’s eyes that the other was just as weak for him and that made everything beautiful and perfect.

“Normal is boring,” the alpha said shortly.

“Okay then superman, can you manage the move in a day? Tomorrow is Sunday after all.” 

Soonyoung thought about it for a moment. He still had a lot of time today and then also the whole Sunday, so it should be easily manageable to move all his things. Prolonging the move of flats didn’t make any sense at this point. Especially not, when Jihoon’s hair fell softly around his face and his eyes crinkled at the corners because he was smiling so much.

“Aye, aye, captain marshmallow.”

Jihoon’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Soon, the painkiller is slowly starting to take effect. I would be a bit more cautious now.”

“Nah, I know you love it deep down,” Soonyoung said while getting up to walk over to where Jihoon was seated.

“I love you but I hate the pet names.” Jihoon pulled the alpha close at once when he was in reachable distance.

“You only get us as a package though.” Soonyoung chuckled and hugged the smaller one close, breathing in deeply the gentle scent of peonies and raspberry.

“Thank you for moving in with me,” Jihoon said quietly and breathed Soonyoung’s scent as well. The omega’s pheromones swirled around the alpha happily and he couldn’t help sighing contently.

“No, thank _you_.”

He didn’t specify what he was thankful for because he couldn’t put it all in words. He was just thankful for everything.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung had been busy the whole weekend with moving. Already on Saturday he went back to his flat to put some of his things into boxes he still had in his flat from his last move. He went back to Jihoon’s flat in the evening to spend the night there. Jihoon’s mood had luckily lightened over the day but the younger one had still fallen asleep early, too tired from his hangover. On Sunday, Soonyoung had gone back and forth between their flats bringing over his things. This time it had been Jihoon who had dragged him to bed early because his eyes had kept on falling shut while eating dinner together.

The weekend hadn’t been anything special but when Soonyoung woke up on Monday morning and Jihoon was lying on his side watching him with a small smile on his face, he felt very accomplished and happy. Even if they didn’t do anything special, being together with Jihoon would always feel special to him. He had been alone in love for such a long time and then they finally got together only to go through a very bad breakup that being together now still felt like a miracle to him. He would never take Jihoon for granted for as long as he lived.

Soonyoung turned his head to the side and saw that they were already a bit late to make it in time to work. Both of them got up fast and hurried to get ready for work. In the end they were a couple of minutes late because Soonyoung was insisting on getting something to eat on the way. Now Soonyoung was back in his old office and it felt very strange to him. The memories of Jihoon’s and his breakup and the time they got back together still lingering in every corner of the room. When Soonyoung had arrived in his office, he couldn’t find a trace of Jihoon’s belonging anywhere. The omega must have moved his things secretly the week before.

Soonyoung put the box with his things onto the table and started taking them out one after the other. He felt a slight muscle ache in his back from putting his belongings together in a hurry yesterday to move them to Jihoon’s flat. 

“Our flat,” the alpha mumbled into the quiet of the room. It was still strange and new to him that he would see Jihoon now every day, not only at work but at home too. He still wasn’t sure if they went too fast but his heart kept on telling him that it was the right decision. Doing what made him and also Jihoon happy could only be the right decision.

Soonyoung opened one of the drawers of his desk to put some of his things inside but there was a small piece of paper lying inside waiting to be picked up. He took it out and read through the note, a smile spreading over his face at once.

_You better not leave this office again. Welcome back <3_

The heart had been crossed out and then drawn onto the paper again. It was typically Jihoon, he wanted to do something sweet but then he felt like it was over the top but in the end he went through with it nevertheless. The alpha’s heart started beating slightly harder at the thought. He had just said goodbye to Jihoon a couple of minutes ago when they both went their separate ways to the different offices but strangely enough, he already missed him.

Some years ago he had thought that he could never love a person as much as he loved Jihoon back at university but he had been very wrong. The love he felt for Jihoon right now was unrivaled. In his love drunken state of mind he considered going to the open-plan office of his team to great the others and catch a glimpse of his boyfriend again. To his surprise, he didn’t have to go through with this plan because the door to his office opened at that moment and Jihoon walked into the room.

“Putting your things into place has to wait because we have a new case,” Jihoon said slightly grumpy. The omega had drunken only had one cup of coffee this morning and it probably was barely enough to function right. Soonyoung had either to figure out how to brighten the other’s mood in the morning or needed to avoid pissing him off further when they were living together now. He had a feeling that the smaller one was a loose cannon early in the morning, he needed to learn how to handle the other right. But they had all the time in the world to figure out how to deal with the other’s quirks because Soonyoung didn’t plan on ever moving out again.

“Quite the busy start, isn’t it? Did the whole team arrive already?” Jihoon nodded his head to Soonyoung’s question and the alpha gave him a small smile. He grabbed his thick coat and put it on while walking to the door.

“Off to our first case then,” he told Jihoon in a chipper voice, his mood much too happy for someone who was on the way to inspect a crime scene.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The crime scene wasn’t far away from the police station, so they arrived in less than 10 minutes. The police officers who were first called to the crime scene were already waiting for them in front of the building. Soonyoung and his team followed the police officers into the flat where the body was found. A feeling of dread always came over Soonyoung the moment before setting foot on a crime scene. That feeling didn’t come from the knowledge that he would see a corpse any second but from the fact that this dead person had had a life up to this point, a family, friends and dreams. The person’s future was gone and left behind were people closest to them who would be never able to get over the cruel reality of the murder of a beloved person. “Don’t cry for the dead but cry for the living. They are the ones living in agony all their life”, his first superior had told Soonyoung. The profiler had never forgotten these words. 

When Soonyoung entered the room where the body was lying, he stopped his step at once when he saw the murdered person. What made him stop wasn’t the degree of cruelty the murderer had used nor the big pool of blood the body was lying in, it was the fact that he had seen this way of killing already. Before Soonyoung could sort out his thoughts, Jihoon already spoke up.

“This is Min Jaeho’s way of murdering people…”

Like always, Jihoon was way too rash with his words, too fast to come to a conclusion. It wasn’t professional for a police officer but still Soonyoung couldn’t blame him because he was thinking the same thing. The man lying murdered on the floor looked exactly like Min Jaeho’s victims did and Soonyoung had a very bad feeling about it. 

He hadn’t expected his first case back at the police station to be like this and if his intuition was right, this case would turn out very ugly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) I’m a day late!! Ahhhh! But a day still seems acceptable. I’m now all healthy again, so it will be easier to update on time again. Well, I have awful insomnia right now but I have to deal with that somehow lol.
> 
> So are you surprised? I actually thought a long time about incorporating the case again or not. The ones following this story already for a long time might remember that I said a while ago that I’m not sure if I should make the story longer or shorter. I was talking at that time about picking up the case again or solely concentrating on Jihoon’s and Soonyoung’s relationship. Picking up the case again naturally makes the story a lot longer. In the end I decided to go for the case again because this is, after all, a police story and only having relationship stuff happening for many chapters might have been slightly lacking. Actually it already felt like the last two chapters of the story weren’t as interesting anymore. Some of you really like the chapters and I’m happy for the support but overall after the climax of the story, the interest in Code Red got noticeable less. That’s when I noticed why authors stop a story very fast after the climax because it’s difficult to keep the reader's interest afterward. I think one way or the other, the climax of the story is over and it will probably never be as interesting as it was before but I still have things to say and Jihoon and Soonyoung still have things to do. I dunno, I really don’t want to finish up the story fast just because the interest in it got less. Still it’s a tough way and I worry at times that what I’m writing right now isn’t all that interesting. BUT I want to go with this story up to the very end, so thank you to all of you who are still walking this way with me <3
> 
> There are some things I really like in this chapter and other things I really struggled with. I’m not very sure how it turned out in the end. There are some conflicts out in the open, we’ll go back into a case but we still have Jihoon and Soonyoung who are very much in love. It feels a bit like at point earlier in the story, just happier hahaha. So any guesses what’s going on with the case? Naturally I won’t say anything at this point. The only thing I say is that the next chapter will be again from Jihoon’s pov :D Am I changing povs too much lately?
> 
> The next update should be next Saturday! I have a couple of days off in between, so I’ll hopefully manage in time! Thank you for your support, your comments and encouraging messages. Thank you for the kudos, bookmarks and for recommending Code Red to other people. And like I said, thank you for still walking this long way with me. It’s true that an author should write for themselves but in the end it’s so much easier if you’re not alone on this long journey. And Code Red really is a long journey… I’m writing the story for 8 months now I think? So thank you for staying with me and supporting me. I love you <3
> 
> See you soon! Stay healthy!!
> 
> If you’re interested in my writing process or want to know when I’ll update exactly, you can add me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel).


	38. Error Code

Jihoon felt like trapped in a slow motion. Everything was moving slower but still it was impossible to change the outcome. His gut feeling told Jihoon that this case would become very problematic and he could do nothing about it. He just knew it would turn out nasty with no way to close the case fast. Jihoon kept on staring at the victim lying dead on the floor, the way the man was killed even more shocking than the gruesome wounds on his body. It looked like Min Jaeho was back and started killing again. But there was a clear mistake in this theory, Min Jaeho was in jail, not able to murder someone. 

Jihoon sighed heavily and instead of continuing to stare at the brutally killed man on the floor, the small officer started looking around the room. He noticed certain things he hadn’t seen in the flat of Min Jaeho’s victims. Two cups on the table, two controllers next to a game console, and there were two cushions on the bed when he looked through the open door into the bedroom. This wasn’t the flat of a person living alone.

“Who found the victim?” Jihoon asked wearily.

“The alpha mate of the victim,” one of the officers answered while looking back and forth between the team. Jihoon could sense Soonyoung’s mood shifting at once. It was difficult to notice but Jihoon was sure that something wasn’t right with the alpha. When he looked at Soonyoung’s face, it was completely straight but the strange change on his pheromones was still there. It felt a bit like agony or sadness but he couldn’t put a finger on it. He wanted to ask his boyfriend what was wrong but they were at a crime scene to do their work so a question like this was highly inappropriate. He would have to ask him later. 

“This is a very different case then,” Jihoon said and the blank look on Soonyoung’s face changed to a very hard one. The case seemed to be messed up and the omega was sure that the alpha could sense it too.

“Of course it is. Min Jaeho is in jail.” The alpha suddenly turned around, put some gloves on, and walked through the room, looking and touching various things. Soonyoung was a very good profiler, so he might notice even more things in the flat than Jihoon had done.

In the meantime, Wonwoo had squatted close to the victim searching for clues about the killer on the body. After a while he stood up again, a slightly puzzled look on his face. “The case is very different indeed. These cuts weren’t done by a person who had already killed before. You can easily see how much trouble they had with cutting the throat.“

Jihoon was running his hands in annoyance through his hair. On the first look everything seemed to be pointing towards Min Jaeho but in reality so many things were different. They wouldn’t be able to investigate the case, the same way they had done Min Jaeho’s case but at the same time they had to consider that the cases are somehow related. Even if a lot of things were different, there was one thing that was the same.

“The cuts are the same as on Min Jaeho’s victims and not many people know about these. This had to be done by someone who was working closely on the case or someone who was close to Min Jaeho and I like neither of these options.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon walked in circles around their office while everyone else sat on a chair contemplating what they had just seen at the crime scene. Even Soonyoung had been strangely quiet on their way back, not talking about the case anymore. It seemed a bit like everyone was trying to figure out in their head what was going on but no one came to a reasonable conclusion. 

“Things are not adding up,” Jihoon said, ultimately breaking the silence in the room. “It’s odd how the victim was killed the same way Min Jaeho had murdered before but everything else is so different. This killer seems to have a very different motivation to kill, so why chose to murder them the same way as Min Jaeho did?”

Soonyoung kept on being quiet and Jihoon slowly started worrying about the other. He just wanted to ask him about it when Wonwoo started talking. “I don’t like to say this but the cases might have some sort of connection. Even though nothing makes sense right now, we have to figure out the parallels.”

Soonyoung cleared his throat and finally started talking after being silent for a very long time. “We need to talk to the mate of the victim because he could give us crucial information but that won’t be possible for a while. Maybe in a week, maybe in a month, it’s difficult to predict when he’ll start coping with the situation,” Soonyoung said while staring with an empty gaze at the floor. Jihoon was itching again to ask his boyfriend what was wrong with him but this time shoved the thought aside. Soonyoung was much too professional to answer him while being at work, he needed to ask him later at home.

“I don’t like this whole thing. I have a very bad feeling. I don’t think this is the work of just a copycat. This is deeper. We have to find the connection fast.” Jihoon started pacing around the room again, not able to calm down. He suddenly stopped and turned around to look at Soonyoung again, the alpha raising his head this time because he might have sensed Jihoon’s distress.

“Wait, isn’t the timing very strange? You just started working here again, Soon, and then we get a case that looks just like Min Jaeho‘s? That can’t be just a coincidence.“ Jihoon walked close to the alpha but Soonyoung got now up from his seat and started pacing as Jihoon had done before.

“I already thought about this too. It might be not just a coincidence and the killer is monitoring our team. But for now, it is nothing more than a possibility, we shouldn’t panic. Only facts can help us right now, so we need to wait for the results of the forensic team. Maybe this killer is not as careful as Min Jaeho was and left behind some evidence,” Soonyoung said soberly.

Seokmin sighed loudly and leaned back in his chair while watching their team leader pace around the office. “The killer seems to be careful though. None of the neighbors saw or heard something when the man was killed early in the morning right before the mate came back from his business trip. The killer must have had exact information when the mate would arrive and he must have known how to get into the flat of the victim without problems. Also, he must know how to avoid being seen by others.”

What Seokmin said was worrying. The killer seemed to be indeed clever and even more he seemed to know the victim and his environment well. Min Jaeho got all information from installing cameras, maybe it would be the same for this case. 

“Maybe the killer works with cameras like Min Jaeho had done,” Jihoon wondered out loud. Soonyoung gave him a sharp look, obviously unhappy with his words.

“We shouldn’t think about Min Jaeho’s methods all the time. This is another killer and he obviously works differently. I searched the flat for cameras and also looked outside but I couldn’t find any surveillance cameras that would be useful for the killer. There was only one at the entrance of the apartment complex but that would have been no help to the killer.”

“But he could have installed one in the car of the victim or at someplace he went to! The possibilities are endless!” Jihoon argued, slowly getting annoyed that Soonyoung was down talking everything he said.

“Of course that’s true but like I said if we concentrate too much of the profile of Min Jaeho we might get distracted seeing the important things. Let’s forget about Min Jaeho for now and investigate it as a new case.”

Jihoon could understand where Soonyoung was coming from. It was dangerous if you work on a case too one-dimensionally but Jihoon was too sure that the cases had something to do with each other so he didn’t want to easily give into Soonyoung.

“That doesn’t make any sense! The cases clearly are connected!”

“Are you trying to start a fight already on the first day I’m back?” Soonyoung said slowly and looked down at Jihoon. Only now the younger noticed how close he had gotten to the alpha, close enough to choke him because he was so agitated. 

“Yes, no, yes…” Jihoon knitted his brows together, unsure if he should keep on being angry at Soonyoung or if he might have overreacted. While he was thinking about his behavior, the alpha went to his chair and sat down. He crossed his arms over his chest and turned his eyes away from Jihoon and instead looked at the other members of the team sitting across from him.

“Let’s do a background check on the victim. We should also try to contact his family. We can only do everything else after we get the victims things from the forensic team, which will be hopefully tomorrow already.”

Jihoon wanted to argue that they could get the files from Min Jaeho’s case too and look through them again to find some clues but it seemed like Soonyoung wouldn’t like the idea right now. Jihoon had one more idea the alpha would like even less but he asked Soonyoung still about it.

“Shouldn’t we talk to Min Jaeho?”

Soonyoung’s gaze considerably darkened hearing Jihoon’s suggestion. “That is out of the question. If possible I want to avoid talking to Min Jaeho ever again.”

Soonyoung had never told him what Min Jaeho had said to him in their final conversation but Jihoon’s intuition told him that it had been something awful. He could understand Soonyoung never wanting to see the killer again but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that it would give them something to work with. Jihoon sighed quietly and shrugged his stubbornness in always wanting to be right off. It was the first day of Soonyoung working again at the police station. He would accept his team leader’s decisions for now but tomorrow would be a new day and he would annoy Soonyoung with Min Jaeho’s case then again. Min Jaeho had something to do with the new case and no one could convince him of the contrary.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After work, Jihoon and Soonyoung sat at home on the couch, the alpha busily studying the photos of the crime scene. He had done that already earlier at the office for a long time, so Jihoon was sure Soonyoung couldn’t find any more clues with looking at them even longer. Jihoon himself was more busy with thinking about the alpha’s behavior throughout the day. A lot of things still seemed strange to him and he wanted to figure out what was bothering his boyfriend. 

“Soonyoung, earlier at the crime scene when you heard that the dead omega had a mate who was receiving psychological treatment, you reacted very strangely,” Jihoon said cautiously, expecting Soonyoung to not like his curiosity. 

“Did I? I always believe myself to have my feelings well under control.” 

Jihoon tried to read Soonyoung’s mood but he could only pick up a slight confusion. They promised each other to talk about everything but that was easier said than done. At times like these Jihoon wasn’t sure if Soonyoung wanted to talk to him about his worries, even more, if he was able to talk about his worries. Soonyoung still had trouble speaking what was exactly on his mind.

“I think the others didn’t notice. I’m a bit more sensitive to your moods.” 

“I had cases like this one before, I even talked to the mates left behind alone but it’s different now that I have you by my side. A couple of days psychological treatment is of no use, Jihoonie. An alpha who gets left behind alone can neither die nor live, it’s cruel. I would probably first kill the murderer and then myself.” 

Jihoon took a sharp intake of air. “Can you please not say something like that?” 

Jihoon felt nauseous hearing Soonyoung say so easily that he would kill himself in such a situation. He knew that it was Soonyoung’s alpha biology talking but it still distressed him greatly while the profiler on the other hand seemed to be completely calm. While an omega losing their partner too early let them slowly wither away with grief, often dying from the pain of being left alone, alphas went completely insane. Revenge, rage, but most importantly the feeling of having failed to protect their omega was something the most couldn’t cope with. Alphas often killed themselves in cases like that because like Soonyoung had said, they could neither die nor live. But even knowing that Soonyoung’s reaction was biologically normal, he couldn’t help hating it. He didn’t want Soonyoung to die, he wanted him to be happy even when he wasn’t around. He wanted to tell his boyfriend just that but in the end Jihoon didn’t voice that thought out loud because he knew he couldn’t change Soonyoung’s alpha mind on that topic.

The profilers face softened when he saw Jihoon turning gloom because of his words. “Sorry Jihoonie, let’s take a break and not think about this anymore, okay?”

Soonyoung moved closer to the omega and took him into his arms. Jihoon inhaled deeply the scent of coffee and mint while wiggling even closer. “I love your scent so much. You’re like drinking the best coffee in a spring morning. It’s my favorite scent in the whole world. Also it makes me really horny.”

Soonyoung chuckled and pushed Jihoon back onto the couch so the alpha was lying on top of him. They lazily started kissing but soon it wasn’t enough for Jihoon anymore. Need was tugging low in his belly and the thought of getting knotted was invading his mind again. It had been a reoccurring thought since they had slept together, it was a strange itch deep in his body that needed to be satisfied but Soonyoung seemed set on not giving him what he wanted while he was neither in heat nor preheat. Maybe he could change his mind today. He really hoped so because the itch was especially bad at the moment. Jihoon wasn’t sure why maybe because of the talk they just had or maybe because his hormones were slightly off. He was also close to his heat, so that could be a reason too.

Jihoon slowly slid his hands down his alphas body but just before he could reach the pants, Soonyoung took his hands and pinned them with one hand over his head. “I know what you’re aiming at but we’re not going there today.” 

Jihoon made an unhappy noise deep in his throat. “Soon, fucking stop holding back the whole time!!! Can’t we just…” Before Jihoon could finish the sentence, Soonyoung deeply kissed him again, effectively shutting the smaller one up. Jihoon was angry and tried to dominate the kiss but Soonyoung had a way of using his tongue that made the omega give up after a while. Even though he wanted more, Jihoon couldn’t help enjoying this too. Soonyoung’s tongue was caressing him so thoroughly and deeply that his mind slowly got clouded and left for a euphoric place. The alpha’s scent wrapped around him warmly and the smaller one’s mind became blank.

When Soonyoung stopped the kiss, he immediately attacked the omegas throat biting and kissing his way down harshly. Jihoon squirmed on the couch and tried to free himself out of Soonyoung’s grip but to no avail. Soonyoung suddenly stopped and looked at Jihoon with dark eyes and a little smirk on his lips. 

“I can make you feel good another way too.” Jihoon wanted to ask what the other meant but before he could get the words out Soonyoung had already latched onto his neck. It was right the point where his scent gland was, the point where Soonyoung would hopefully bite down one day to mate him. Jihoon moaned loudly feeling the alphas lips against that spot. Pure pleasure went through his whole body making his dick painfully hard and his hole leaking some slick. 

“Fuck! Ahh, Soon. What, ahhh…” The alpha grazed the spot on Jihoon’s neck cautiously with his teeth, never breaking the skin. Right afterward he licked and kissed over Jihoon’s neck and the omega got more and more worked up. This turned him on so much that he felt like exploding. 

“Don’t stop Soonyoung!! I‘ll kill you if you hmmm... ahhh if you stop.” Soonyoung chuckled lightly against the omegas skin but never stopped kissing and biting gently.

Jihoon’s breath became more labored by second and he closed his eyes, letting the pleasure run through him freely. Even more than before, he wanted the alpha inside of him. “I need y-you inside,” he panted out and struggled once more against Soonyoung’s hold. His pants were completely drenched with slick by now and he moved his ass around helplessly on the couch. 

“You can come just with this Jihoonie.“ Soonyoung sucked at his neck more aggressively and Jihoon knew that the alpha was right. He was already so close to orgasm, it was almost embarrassing. 

“AHHH, please. Fuck. I’m…” Jihoon started shaking. He tried to hold back his orgasm because he didn’t want to come like this. He hadn’t planned things like this. 

The omega was biting his lips, sweat running down his face because it was so difficult to hold back. He had almost reached the point of no return and he was starting to shake and hurt. His short fingernails dug deeply into the skin of his palms and a pained moan left his lips.

“Don’t do this honey. Give in to the pleasure. Come for me just like this.” Soonyoung sucked hardly one more time at his neck and Jihoon let finally go. His body twitched strongly under Soonyoung and the heat low in his belly exploded. Cum was spurting from his cock and even more slick was gushing out of his hole. He moaned loudly, Soonyoung’s name spilling from his lips like a prayer.

For a moment Jihoon didn’t know where he was, he was still shaking slightly and his mind was blank like a new canvas. He lay on the couch panting loudly while he slowly got down from his high but his mind still couldn’t comprehend what had happened.

“Did you just make me... come completely untouched?” Jihoon asked astonished when he finally caught his breath again.

Soonyoung chuckled and pushed some sweat-drenched hair out of Jihoon’s face. “I can make you feel good in so many ways you can’t even imagine, Jihoonie.” He gave the omega a small kiss on the forehead before lifting smaller slightly, so they both could lay on their sides on the couch facing each other. “I think I already told you this before but the mating point is very sensitive, it‘s a highly erogenous zone. The more you like an alpha, the more it drives you crazy getting touched there. From your reaction I can guess you like me quite a bit.“

“Wipe that smug smirk off your face,” Jihoon said while punching Soonyoung without much force. The small smirk on the alpha’s lips turned into a big smile.

“It just makes me happy that I‘m not the only one who’s crazy in love,” Soonyoung told him cheerfully and Jihoon couldn’t argue with that. 

“What happens after getting mated? Will the mating mark also be that sensitive?”

“Yeah, but in a different way. It’s said to be much more emotional.”

Jihoon was curious about what “more emotional” exactly meant but he knew that asking didn’t make any sense. It was one of the things one needed to experience oneself to understand and he was sure that one day, he would experience it too. He shoved the thought of mating out of his mind and wiggled a bit around on the couch to feel more comfortable but his wet pants made it impossible to find a good position.

“My pants are soaked. This is awful,” Jihoon spat out in annoyance. “Why didn’t you just sleep with me?”

“Why are we having this discussion again?”

Soonyoung’s pheromones flickered around Jihoon but the omega didn’t know if they wanted to calm him down or if they were fluttering around like this because Soonyoung was taken aback. Jihoon didn’t like either option at that moment and pressed strongly with his scent against Soonyoung’s, the alpha’s eyes narrowed slightly at the gesture.

“You know that I’m close to my heat and you eventually have to sleep with me then. Or are you planning on making me spend my heat alone?” They hadn’t talked about his upcoming heat yet but Jihoon also hadn’t felt the need to do so because he was sure they would spend his heat together. Right now, he wasn’t all that sure anymore.

“No of course not! But it’s almost two weeks until then.”

“So you plan on not sleeping with me until my heat hits?” The omega asked wearily. “Soon, I’m really horny because my heat is close. This is not funny to me.” Jihoon rolled them both around, so he was lying on top of the omega. He pulled the alpha close but Soonyoung’s face stayed hard.

“You’re not in preheat yet. You shouldn’t be affected yet.”

Jihoon made an unhappy noise and wanted to get up but the profiler held him strongly by the hips, making it impossible for Jihoon to leave. “Soonyoung! Why are you thinking so much all the time? This is driving me insane. Just let go already!”

Instead of answering, Soonyoung raised a hand to the omega’s neck and caressed it gently, a small smile spreading on his lips. “You‘ll have such a big mark there later. It’s not as good as a mating mark, but I’ll still really like it.”

Jihoon sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. Again Soonyoung simply changed the subject so he didn’t need to talk about something he disliked. That was exactly the reason why Jihoon still hesitated to ask Soonyoung certain things and it really shouldn’t be like this. Their alpha-omega-relationship was still an obstacle to them which annoyed Jihoon greatly because he worked hard to understand his biology and Soonyoung still trying to consider his feelings as someone unsure of is biology wasn’t what Jihoon wanted. 

Jihoon shook these thoughts off and searched for another way to approach Soonyoung. There only was one he could think of.

“Do you want me to... wear something so others will see it?” Jihoon colored slightly red at the image. His friends would make fun of him for sure, but he could do it for Soonyoung. He was still wearing every day a children’s bracelet on his wrist, so a mark on his neck wasn’t all that different. 

“No, it’s enough for me to know it’s there,” Soonyoung answered while smiling at him and Jihoon could detect no lie on his scent. This was strange. He couldn’t understand why Soonyoung kept on refusing so many things that should be completely natural for an alpha.

“Sometimes I‘m doubting that you are an alpha. You are refusing all things I read about that make an alpha happy.” Jihoon knew that it wasn’t a nice thing to say and most alphas would flip hearing something like that but Soonyoung didn’t seem to be bothered at all.

“It would be awkward for you in front of your friends to show the mark. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. I’m happy when you’re feeling good.”

“But I want to do something for you too!” The omega said in frustration struggling against Soonyoung’s hold again but the older one simply pulled him closer and hugged him tight.

“You don’t have to do anything. It’s enough if you’re by my side.” 

Jihoon didn’t like the answer. He knew that he did not have to do something special for Soonyoung and being together was indeed enough. Still he couldn’t shake the need off he was feeling deep inside of him. He wanted to prove Soonyoung that he was a good partner for him and that he could trust him completely. Why was it so difficult to make Soonyoung let go of all the restrictions and worries he had? Jihoon really wanted to resolve the troubles they had before his heat hit but time was slowly running out.

No matter how hard he tried it didn’t seem like they could find common ground right now. Instead of having the perfect connection there was an error in the system they both tried to use. They needed some emergency troubleshooting but Jihoon still hadn’t found an answer in the instruction manual for relationships.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon had been slightly tense the remaining part of the evening after his and Soonyoung’s talk and the morning hadn’t been any better. He was constantly thinking either about the case or about a way to finally make Soonyoung loosen up but the more he thought about it, the less everything made sense. He was unable to find answers to his questions and it ticked him off greatly.

An hour after they arrived at work Soonyoung got a call and many boxes got moved to their office. It was easy to guess that the forensic team had finished their work already.

“The forensic science team couldn’t find fingerprints, fluids, or something similar. The killer worked very clean. We have no clues.” Soonyoung was very calm when he told his team the news. In contrast, Jihoon felt like screaming. It became more and more obvious that the case would be difficult to solve and he was sure it would only get worse from here on. A murderer who killed that brutally wouldn’t simply stop.

“Then we’ll start looking through the things now. There are more than enough boxes for everyone.”

Jihoon looked at his boyfriend who already picked up two boxes to leave for his own office. He couldn’t help feeling unhappy with Soonyoung’s way of handling the case and it was impossible to keep his dissatisfaction inside.

“Shouldn’t we get the files of the Min Jaeho case? We’ll need them for sure.”

“Right now we have to look through the victim’s things to find a clue about the killer. I don’t think Min Jaeho’s files are of any help right now. Stop being so set on linking the case to Min Jaeho.” Soonyoung didn’t give Jihoon time to answer, turned around, and left the office with two boxes.

Jihoon felt angrier than it was reasonable. He knew he was being petty but he was still annoyed because Soonyoung had been avoiding the discussion with him yesterday and today he was being ignored at work. It was completely unprofessional mixing these two things but he couldn’t help it at that moment. Something inside of him was just very unhappy and he had to fix it somehow.

Without a second thought, Jihoon stormed outside, following his boyfriend to his office. Before he could reach it, a voice stopped him.

“Where are you going, Jihoon?” The omega was rolling his eyes when he turned around and saw Wonwoo standing close to him. His friend’s eyes were twinkling in amusement and to Jihoon he looked much too chipper at that moment.

“You know exactly where I’m going,” Jihoon told his friend in a sour voice. He was sure that Wonwoo would tell him now something very clever that would make him feel bad on top of being angry. Wonwoo was always able to rile him up because he knew him best.

“You’re living already together, why do you have to follow him first thing in the morning?” Wonwoo asked his friend but the smaller one simply ignored him, still looking annoyed. “Don’t be like that, Jihoon. You wanted him to come back as the team leader so you need to let go of being in that position now. He’s the boss, so you have to accept his choices.”

Jihoon didn’t want to admit that there was even more to his anger but he also didn’t have too because Wonwoo’s eyes were suddenly widening slightly. He knew at once that his friend noticed this wasn’t only work-related.

“Wait, this isn’t only about the case, is it? Did you two fight?”

Jihoon sighed and leaned with his back against the wall. He might have to tell Wonwoo now about his problems even though he wasn’t really in the mood for it. “We didn’t exactly fight. We just have some communication problems.”

“What kind of communication problems?” Wonwoo sure was persistent or more he was just being a good friend but Jihoon never wanted to see that while being annoyed. The omega contemplated telling Wonwoo a watered-down version of what had happened but in the end decided against it. There wasn’t even a reason to hide anything in front of his best friend.

“I want to have sex and Soonyoung doesn’t.”

Wonwoo raised his eyebrows, not in surprise but more like he wanted to tell him “are you for real?”. Jihoon just shrugged at his friend’s reaction.

“Okay, that has nothing to do with the case at all. Why are you so irritated right now?” Wonwoo asked him and it hit a nerve in Jihoon because he didn’t know himself why everything agitated him that much.

“I don’t know! I feel restless and he’s still shoving all talks aside when they are difficult or he thinks he has to protect me from… I don’t even know from what! It’s complicated and I’m annoyed! I just want him to trust me!” Jihoon noticed how loud he had become even though they were at work. He took a deep breath and started talking more calmly. “And now he’s behaving the same way at work, not trusting my opinion at all.”

Wonwoo kept quiet for a moment after Jihoon’s outbreak, running a hand through his hair like he was contemplating what to tell his friend without being too harsh. 

“Jihoon you are mixing things up - not in a good way. I can understand the difficulties you have with Soonyoung in your relationship but here at work Soonyoung’s behavior is right. We don’t know at the moment if Min Jaeho is related to the case, so it’s better to not let an old case influence our current work. If we’ll find evidence that Min Jaeho is somehow involved, Soonyoung will be probably the first one to read through all the files again.” Wonwoo made another break before finally adding more. “Maybe you should call your doctor? I don’t know but you seem to be quite hormonal right now.”

Jihoon huffed loudly. “Do you know that I hate you for saying that? You make it sound like I’m pregnant or something. But you’re right, I’ll call him. Even though he already told me weeks ago that there might be some slight side effects later because of the suppressants I took for a while.”

“Soonyoung is probably just cautious. Don’t worry too much Jihoon.”

Wonwoo made him sound like a bitchy lover who was agitated far too easily. Jihoon wasn’t happy about it but he knew his friend was in a way right. He probably should be more relaxed about the whole situation, should give it more time. The thing was that Jihoon’s biology didn’t allow that. It made him restless that things weren’t working out right between Soonyoung and him and ultimately he had a straightforward character and hated waiting. Everything together made it impossible for Jihoon to take it slow, especially because there was one thing that bothered him so very much.

“No, you don’t understand this. He’s not trusting me with his alpha side or he’s not trusting himself, I’m not sure. And I really, really hate that.”

“Have you told him that? I mean, have you told him exactly like you told me?”

Jihoon wanted to say ‘yes’ but when he opened his mouth, he noticed that it would be a lie. He hadn’t told Soonyoung exactly how much the situation was bothering him, how badly he was coping with the alpha not trusting him completely.

“Maybe not,” Jihoon mumbled but Wonwoo heard him nevertheless.

“Okay, you were right. You two have communication problems. Go and talk to him. If you don’t talk to him now, you’ll be distracted the whole day. But make it fast, we have a case to solve.”

Jihoon suddenly felt a pang of guilt deep in his chest. He needed to be more professional from now on or his decision of bringing back Soonyoung would have been the wrong thing to do. And he dearly didn’t want that to be a mistake, so he better got his shit together from now on. Only today he would make a final exception. He really needed to talk to Soonyoung.

“Thanks, Wonwoo.”

“Always to the rescue.” Wonwoo gave him a little smirk, which made Jihoon laugh loudly. The omega waved once and finally made his way over to Soonyoung’s office. He took a deep breath before knocking at the door and opening it. What he hadn’t expected, was the alpha’s pheromones shaking him up the moment he entered the office. The strange itch was back and he was very sure now that the hormones were acting up. He curled his lips in annoyance, not wanting to deal with being needy right now. He simply wanted to talk to Soonyoung.

“What is it, Jihoonie? We have a lot to do.” Soonyoung didn’t look up from the notebook in his hands but kept on reading through it.

Jihoon walked around Soonyoung’s table until he stood right next to the chair of the alpha, but the other still didn’t raise his head. Jihoon felt ignored and it wasn’t a nice feeling. He kept on getting more restless. He could feel the itch now clearly crawling under his skin. He wanted Soonyoung to touch him. It was bothersome and completely unreasonable given the situation they were in but it was difficult to fight the strong pull he felt. It was nowhere as bad as the time his hormones had been out of control but it was still bothersome and Soonyoung’s ignorance kept on fueling up his frustration but also his longing. He wanted Soonyoung to really see him and trust him, to give him what he needed and in return he wanted to give his all to the alpha. The need and frustration were burning all too bright inside of Jihoon and maybe that was the thing that let him forget his cool. He turned Soonyoung’s chair around with a strong tug and climbed on the chair to settle on the alpha’s lap. Maybe it was time to take more dramatic measures.

Jihoon opened the top two buttons of his shirt and pushed it a bit to the side to reveal the big mark on his neck, sure that it would rile up Soonyoung in some way but the alpha didn’t even blink. Soonyoung’s pheromones were still calmly swirling around the younger one and frustrated Jihoon even more. He was so irritated that his omega mind won over his rationality. He leaned even closer to Soonyoung until their noses almost touched, a lazy smile spreading over Jihoon’s lips and his back arching slightly in a dangerously sexy way.

“Don’t you want me? I’ll be a good omega for you.” 

This time the alpha’s pheromones flared out strongly and his eyes became slightly hazy. The feeling of triumph didn’t last long for Jihoon because Soonyoung calmed down again in a matter of seconds.

“We‘re at work Jihoonie,” Soonyoung said quietly and pushed the omega down from his lap.

“If you would give me what I want then I wouldn’t have to do this at work! Nothing I ever do gets a reaction out of you. You’re just doing what you want and never consider what I want! I’m starting to believe you don’t want me,” Jihoon angrily said while still standing right in front of Soonyoung’s chair.

“Let’s talk about this at home.“ Soonyoung cleared his throat, pulled his chair around, and picked up the notebook again. 

Jihoon chuckled darkled and turned around as well. “Yeah, whatever.” He could feel tears pricking at his eyes when he walked to the door and he didn’t know if it was out of anger or sadness. Just when he reached for the door handle, Soonyoung caught up with him and held him gently by the wrist.

“Jihoonie don’t be angry. It’s not like the thought of office sex with you doesn’t turn me on, it’s quite the contrary. But I can’t risk anyone walking in on us. You are mine to see only when in pleasure,” Soonyoung said quietly. Jihoon was taken aback by the answer and his anger died down a bit. 

“Okay... okay good. Then at home later?”

“I‘m just cautious because the last time we were also going too fast and you probably still remember where that lead us to.”

Jihoon’s anger flared up once again. After all, this was the reason for Soonyoung holding back and not giving Jihoon what he wanted. He was afraid that Jihoon would act again like he did months ago, would tell him hurtful things, and leave him behind broken. He really lacked in trust and it pained the omega an insane amount. Why was it so easy for Soonyoung to still hold back like that? For Jihoon it wouldn’t even be possible because he liked Soonyoung just too much.

“But we aren’t like this anymore! You worry too much. I know I‘m a horny bastard but I can’t help it. I just wish you wouldn’t push me away all the time. It makes me confused if you don’t trust me. I know what I just did was inappropriate but this is not only about what happened now. You push me away all the time. I get the feeling that you don’t like me the same way I like you. I thought we both felt the same…”

“Oh my god, we do. I love you so, so much.” Soonyoung took both of Jihoon’s hands in his but the omega shrugged him off, still confused and unhappy with the whole situation.

“Then why are you always holding back? You told me I should learn to accept my omega biology but now it’s you who seems to be holding back on your biology. You don’t have to hold back the whole time. You can just be you. I accept you completely. You don’t have to worry about me disliking certain behaviors. I always love you and I want you to know that. I’m not like I was before our separation. I know I’m an unconventional omega but I’m willing to try my best for you. I won’t be inconsiderate of your feelings as alpha again, but give you the things you need too.“

Soonyoung was quiet for a long time and the longer the alpha took to answer, the more convinced Jihoon was that he wouldn’t like the response.

“Jihoon, I don’t think you are ready for this.” Soonyoung’s voice was very serious. Call it instinct, Jihoon suddenly knew what the core problem was.

“What do you mean exactly? That I’m not ready to submit to you?”

Soonyoung clenched his teeth hearing Jihoon’s question. “With your personality it’s not that easy. I’m worried that…”

Jihoon took a step closer again and grabbed Soonyoung’s shirt in anger. The alpha stopped talking at once. “Will you shut up already? Don’t you think that I can’t separate the dynamic from our relationship and what’s happening in the bedroom? That’s two completely different things!” Jihoon took a deep breath before adding the most important part. “I am ready to submit. I want to submit to you. Only to you.”

Instead of looking happy about the confession, Soonyoung looked panicked. “Jihoon, please don’t say that. You really don’t understand…”

“Then explain it to me! In my understanding you should be ecstatic that I want to do this but once again you refuse me. Please explain it so I can understand it. If you can’t do it right now, then later.” 

Soonyoung was once again searching for the right words, obviously feeling uncomfortable with the topic. “Jihoonie, I… if I’ll go into full alpha mode, I become much rougher, I’ll expect you to listen to me or else I’ll become mean and even harsher with you. I’m not becoming an asshole because that’s not who I am, but there is a side to me that is vastly different from what you normally see and I’m afraid you’ll dislike it too much given your character. And it’s not like I can turn it off once I fall into my alpha mind. That’s why I choose to never give in to it.”

Jihoon suddenly felt very tired and all anger fell off him. He let go of Soonyoung’s shirt and moved his head a couple of times from side to side to clear his head. “Soon, I read about these things and heard about them. Jeonghan-hyung told me a lot about them, believe me I never wanted to know so much about the sex life of Seungcheol-hyung and Jeonghan-hyung… What I’m saying is, I know what will happen Soonyoung. I will probably fall into my omega mind at one point and I don’t care. Let me do this for you. I want you to be comfortable with me and let go completely. Also Soonyoung, isn’t the alpha side to be said the one that loves the most unconditionally? The one who kills for his omega? I’m not afraid of this side. Because I already saw it before. Soonyoung I love you, okay?“

Jihoon made a break and Soonyoung nodded at him. The omega reached up and laid a hand on Soonyoung’s face caressing his cheek gently.

“Trust me, Soon. If I say I’m ready to do this, you have to put your trust in me. That’s what a relationship is about. We shouldn’t hide anymore and trust the other. I know you probably just want to protect me and not pressure me but we both need this for our relationship. Don’t worry, I won’t tell you again that I hate something. I know what I’m doing.” Jihoon tried to talk encouragingly with Soonyoung but it sounded more like he was pleading with him.

“Can you give me a bit more time? I need to sort out my feelings and...” Soonyoung stopped, struggling to find the right words. Jihoon suddenly felt bad he had been so angry at his boyfriend seeing how difficult it was for him to deal with the situation.

“Yes, of course, you can have more time. It’s not like I want to pressure you unreasonably. I just wanted to tell you how I’m feeling to avoid any misunderstanding between us.” Jihoon pulled Soonyoung close and hugged him. He expected the alpha to tell him again that they were at work but he simply hugged him back tight.

“I didn’t want to make you sad or angry,” Soonyoung whispered into his ear and Jihoon felt more content than he had done the whole day. Somehow he knew that this had been an important step in their relationship and everything would fall into place soon.

“I know, Soon.” Jihoon sighed and snuggled even closer but their quiet moment got interrupted because there was knock at the door. They separated and Soonyoung went back to his chair and sat down before telling the person behind the door to come in. It was a police officer from another team.

“Good morning! When I was outside for a moment, a kid gave me this letter for you team leader Kwon.” Soonyoung looked slightly confused hearing this. The officer walked to Soonyoung’s table and laid the letter down. “If you excuse me then.”

There was a slightly worried look on the officer’s face but Jihoon only started panicking when Soonyoung’s scent shifted while picking up the letter from the table. The distress was easy to pick up on the alpha’s scent when he opened the letter wearily and it was enough reason for Jihoon to rush forward. He looked first at the envelope lying now on the table. On the front was Soonyoung’s name - composed of red letters cut out from a newspaper. A cold shiver ran down Jihoon’s spine seeing the all too familiar red letters of a newspaper.

Jihoon ripped the letter out of the alpha’s hand and looked at the content.

**121212 93638 22232 81813 17323 21812 34261 31746 36362 3**

Jihoon’s heart was beating frantically in his chest. He had not the slightest idea what these numbers meant but it couldn’t be something good. It seemed like the killer wanted to play games with them and a brutal murderer who wanted to play games was never good news. They needed to break the code as soon as possible and even more they needed to figure out why the killer was involving their team like this.

The letter was not only the evidence that Min Jaeho’s case was connected to the new one but even more it showed that the killing was a personal matter to the criminal. If he played games for personal reasons with Soonyoung and his team, all of them were in great danger. They could turn into targets of the killer at any given time.

“Am I allowed to get the files of Min Jaeho’s case now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) I’m back! And I have no excuse for being so late with the update. I took some time of the reflect on my writing and thinking up a new au. It’s a fantasy au which I’m very much looking forward to because it will be very different from what I’ve done up to now. The characters will be probably the nicest and purest I ever wrote because it fits the plot. It will be just very cool and I can do some big world-building which makes me happy. I even considered writing it before the story I planned to do next but in the end I decided against it. I’m planning the other story already for over half a year and it’s very dear to me out of a certain reason. And I’ll probably just really enjoy writing it because the story has a very typical plot for me and typical characters. I dare to say that one of the main characters is the most complicated character I ever created. He’ll frustrate me a lot lol. But I mostly like complicated characters more than easy and happy ones. If everything is just easy and happy then it’s difficult to create a certain depth. Also how can life only be easy and happy? Either way, I’m looking forward to that story a lot. It’s a story with a normal modern world setting (what even is normal? haha) and it will be very long again with a lot of plot besides the romance. And it will be super high rated. I’m not joking. This will probably get more insane than Mask Kingdom but it has its reasons lol. Wait, this sounds like the story is centered around the smut but it’s really not. The plot is very drama-like cliché-ish. The story will probably have all clichés I still haven’t written about. All of them. I’m sure of it hahaha.
> 
> I’m kind of running off track. I have to say I was a bit frustrated with the last chapter because it didn’t work the way I intended it to work. As a writer you write certain things to evoke certain reactions within the reader. It totally didn’t work for me in the last chapter and it’s probably because I sometimes just lack the right writing skills. It’s frustrating. So I reflected on my writing a lot in the last two weeks but now I’m feeling better and more motivated again. I’m pretty much just writing, writing, writing for almost a year now and I rarely take the time to think about what I’m doing even though it’s necessary from time to time. Either way, this chapter is super different from the last ones because it’s not happy go lucky but more serious and more fixated on the troubles Jihoon and Soonyoung have in figuring certain things in their relationship out. It was slightly uncomfortable for me to write this because I don’t want them to be this way but it’s necessary. Jihoon has this really aggressive straight forward character and Soonyoung still has some trust-issues so of course they would clash at some point. But the good thing is that Soonyoung promised to deal with the issues he has and he will do that very soon :D This is not a big relationship drama again, I’m done with these lol. The drama lies more in the case. Is it interesting enough? I haven’t written for a while about a case and I totally forgot how difficult it is to write about crime haha. I guess until the next chapter, you can try to figure out what the numbers on the letter mean and what’s going on with the killer :D 
> 
> The title of the chapter actually stands for the whole content of the chapter. The case doesn’t make sense and there are troubles in their relationship. Last but not least, the numbers in the letter. All together it’s the error code. I quite like it that I found a title with the word Code for at least one chapter haha.
> 
> So the next chapter will be first of all from Soonyoung’s pov again and I’ll update again on… I shouldn’t make promises at that point. I have never made it on time lately, also because doing home office full time is quite stressful for me. Working with a VPN makes my work system slower but I’m dependent on a fast system and it’s driving me insane and work in general is insane right now because I’m working for the media and yeah… in times like these, we just have a lot of work to do (I don’t want to complain too much because I’m very lucky to still have a job but… so much stress might be also bad for the health. Oh well..). SO, I hope I’ll be able to update in 1-2 weeks! (You can find the exact date when I know it on my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel))
> 
> Thank you like always for supporting my works fiercely, I really can’t thank you enough! Whoever decides to upload their work somewhere is hoping to make some person’s life a bit brighter or hopes that their thoughts and stories are being heard. So thank you for always listening to my stories <3
> 
> Please stay healthy. See you soon!


	39. One Step Forward

The air was heavily filled with omega pheromones, buzzing in distress through the room. The underlying burnt smell in between the sweet scent of peonies and raspberry made Soonyoung feel slightly itchy. The alpha looked in worry at Jihoon who had his teeth clenched while still looking at the letter in his hand. Soonyoung would need to keep a close eye on him for the time being. He did trust Jihoon as a police officer but he didn’t trust his overly possessive omega temperament. Soonyoung still wasn’t sure if this letter was a threat to his own life but the possibility was high because it was addressed to him.

“Am I allowed to get the files of Min Jaeho’s case now?” Jihoon asked flatly. Soonyoung sighed and pulled at his hair in annoyance. He didn’t want to re-open Min Jaeho’s case but he had no other choice now. It was clear that the killer knew how Min Jaeho had been operating and they needed to figure out their connection. 

“I guess, we need to do that now but even more we need to figure out the code on the letter.”

Jihoon grinned at the alpha hearing about his worries. “That should be no problem. Didn’t you know that Vernon is a genius with numbers? He can crack that code probably in a few minutes.”

Soonyoung remembered having read about Vernon’s talent in mathematics in his file but he didn’t know that he was good at deciphering codes. It seemed like he still had a lot to learn about his team but he should be able to manage that because he didn’t plan on leaving any time soon. Not like before when he had planned all along to join the National Intelligence Service as soon as possible. Right now, this police station was the only place he wanted to work at and that would surely not change very soon.

“Then let’s go so Vernon can have a look at it,” Soonyoung said and Jihoon hastily opened the door and sprinted outside. He really was over motivated, Soonyoung would need to keep a cool head for both of them.

When Soonyoung went into the open-plan office, Jihoon was already busily explaining to their other team members what had happened. He had put the letter in front of Vernon on his table and the youngest member of their team was staring at the piece of paper in concentration, probably not even listening to Jihoon’s words anymore.

“Does the code look familiar, Vernon?” Soonyoung couldn’t help asking after waiting tensely for a couple of minutes. The younger one looked finally up from the piece of paper with a slightly puzzled look on his face.

“It’s an easy cipher that was used. A phone code. You just have to look at the number pad of your phone and understand it. A is 21, B is 22, C is 23, D is 31 and so on,” Vernon explained slowly and the others nodded their head in awe at how easily the young officer had deciphered the code.

“If you cracked the code so easily, why do you look not very enthusiastically? What does it say?” Jihoon asked wearily. Soonyoung had wanted to ask the same because for having deciphered the code, Vernon indeed didn’t look happy.

“It says ‘You better catch me soon’. Whatever the killer means with that. But that’s not what’s unnerving me, it’s the fact that there are numbers that don’t belong to the code. The first six numbers, the 121212 and the final number the 3.”

Soonyoung tried to wrap his head around the information but he couldn’t figure out what it meant. He was a good profiler but numbers had never been his forte. “What does that mean?”

“Hmm, difficult to say. I can just tell you that these numbers are not part of the code because the number pad of a phone hasn’t got a letter on the 1. So 12 can’t be a letter and the 3 at the end stands there alone and a letter of a phone code is always made out of two numbers. A single number doesn’t make sense.” Vernon leaned back in his chair and looked at Soonyoung with raised eyebrows. If he wanted answers from his team leader, he would be disappointed because Soonyoung didn’t have a resolution for the riddle.

“So we got 121212 you better catch me soon 3? What the hell does that mean?” Jihoon picked up the letter from the table and looked irritated at it. “No criminal ever tells the police to catch him soon. That doesn’t make any sense.“

“Maybe he wants to be stopped?” Seokmin piped up and Jihoon immediately glared at him. If the situation wouldn’t have been so serious, Soonyoung would have probably laughed about it.

“I don’t think so. If he wanted to be stopped he wouldn’t play this mind game. His words must have a different meaning.” 

Soonyoung had to admit that Jihoon was right. The killer didn’t want to be stopped, it felt more like he wanted to point out something but Soonyoung didn’t know what it was. Maybe it had something to do with the numbers but it felt like they had no way to figure out what they meant. 121212 and 3 didn’t have a special meaning he could come up with.

“What do we do now? I feel like this letter just added to the confusion,” Wonwoo asked into the silence of the room.

Soonyoung clenched his jaw tightly while thinking about what to do next. He didn’t know what to make out of the letter and he had not the slightest idea where the killer had found his victim. It couldn’t be at the group helping omegas because the victim was mated and didn’t need that help.

“For now we should finish looking through the things of the victim and maybe one of us should check for cameras everywhere again just in case he copied that from Min Jaeho. Vernon maybe you can think some more about the meaning of the remaining numbers.” Everyone nodded their head at Soonyoung’s words.

“I talked to the sister of the victim earlier. She agreed we can visit her now for a questioning,” Wonwoo told them nonchalantly and Soonyoung felt like hitting himself for forgetting about the talk with the sister in the commotion.

“I’ll go right now. I should take someone with me…” Soonyoung looked around and his gaze caught Jihoon’s who was staring with intent at him. It seemed like he was still pissed off that he took the last time Wonwoo with him.

“I’ll take Jihoon with me. You’ll split the remaining work between you.” 

There was a pleased smirk on Jihoon’s lips and Soonyoung was tempted to roll his eyes at his boyfriend. He really hated it being left out of fieldwork but Soonyoung couldn’t take him always along. The younger one would need to learn that one day but Soonyoung would save that lesson for a later time. Today was already problematic enough as it was. 

The alpha took his phone out and asked Wonwoo for the address of the sister which he typed in quickly. “Let’s go, we have no time to lose.” 

Soonyoung rushed off and felt Jihoon following him closely. They would hopefully get some answers from the sister. Right now they had nothing to work with. No motive, no idea where the killer found his victims, and how he was connected to Min Jaeho. Soonyoung was sure that he needed to talk to Min Jaeho at one point but for now he would try to figure more out about the killer with his team. He didn’t want to give the prisoner the satisfaction of seeing him struggle with a new case that was oh so similar to his own but at the same time not at all.

Talking to Min Jaeho was the very last thing he would do when he couldn’t see the smallest bit of light ahead anymore.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

On the way to the house of the victim’s sister, Jihoon couldn’t keep quiet. He kept on repeating the same ideas and speculations over and over again. Soonyoung smelled the distress still strongly on the omega and it worried him that Jihoon failed to be in control of himself. He had the feeling that it wasn’t just because of the case and that thought just wouldn’t leave the alpha’s mind.

“While we’re on the way, how about you call the doctor?” 

Jihoon looked at Soonyoung skeptical but pulled his phone outside in the end and did the call as suggested. Soonyoung listened quietly to his boyfriend talking to the doctor, not able to make out what the man on the other side of the line was saying even though he had an exceptionally good hearing. Jihoon must have turned his phone very silent because he had sensitive ears himself now that he wasn’t taking the suppressants anymore.

When Jihoon turned the phone off he sighed quietly, not looking all that happy. “He said not to worry too much. It’s most probably because I took the suppressants in between. My hormones are trying to push my body into heat sooner than normal, a bit like the last time but not as extreme. He said we can sit it out until my heat hits normally but it might be better to push for an earlier heat. Either way, it shouldn’t happen again after this heat he said.”

Jihoon had a strangely sad expression on his face while explaining to Soonyoung what the doctor had told him. It was easy to see and smell that he wasn’t content with something. It couldn’t be what he had just told his boyfriend because that wasn’t all that worrisome.

“There is something more, right?” Soonyoung asked the omega. 

“The doctor said that there is a possibility I might go feral again. Either the whole heat or only a part of it,” Jihoon told him quietly. “I‘m sorry Soon. It’s all because I took the suppressants again.”

It would have been a lie if Soonyoung would have said it didn’t bother him. Of course it did but he neither could feel angry nor disappointed when Jihoon looked so guilty and sad at him.

“We didn’t want to feel guilty about the past anymore, right? It will be okay, maybe this time you won’t go feral and if you really go feral, then we just have to wait for your next heat.” Soonyoung tried to keep his voice gentle but his effort seemed to be in vain because Jihoon still was tense. His pained expression on his face even got worse than before.

“But I don’t want you to go through this alone again! It hurt you so much the last time!” Jihoon made a short break in between his words and when he started talking again his voice was considerably quieter. “Also I really want to experience my heat with you…”

Soonyoung’s heart started beating slightly faster. Jihoon always managed to catch him off guard. He didn’t expect his boyfriend to say something like that but his words were very much welcome. It showed Soonyoung that this time they were both in this together. This time it wasn’t just some bothersome side effect of his biology for Jihoon. They both wanted to experience this heat together, so Soonyoung couldn’t help but hope for the best outcome possible for them. “We’ll be fine, marshmallow.”

The alpha stopped the car and backed into a parking space. When he had turned the engine off, he turned to Jihoon and cupped his cheek for a moment. “We’ll be always fine, okay?”

Jihoon murmured something that sounded suspiciously like “says the one who has trust issues”. When Soonyoung raised his eyebrows, the omega quickly got out of the car and ignored his boyfriend asking to repeat what he had just said to him.

When they arrived at the door of the house, Soonyoung cleared his mind from their private matters and went very fast through everything he needed to ask. Before he rang the bell, there was one thing left he needed to tell Jihoon and he was sure the other wouldn’t like it.

“Not a word about Min Jaeho.”

Jihoon glared at him angrily hearing what the alpha had just told him. “Soonyoung I‘m not an idiot. I know how to do my job.”

“I know but you’re still in distress about the letter,” Soonyoung told him matter of fact. Jihoon looked like he was considering his words for a moment before his gaze softened again.

“Sorry, you‘re right. I’m not very professional today. I also shouldn’t leash out at you when you tell me something as the team leader.”

That was again a very unexpected reaction and somehow it amused Soonyoung greatly because he knew Jihoon would go back on his words very soon again. Jihoon wouldn’t be Jihoon if he wouldn’t piss off his superiors on a regular basis but he could use these words against the omega at least once. His reaction would be probably worthwhile. 

“Wait, did you just smirk at me? Seriously?” Jihoon suddenly asked and Soonyoung noticed that he was indeed smirking at the younger one. He would consider doing it more often from now on when his boyfriend would be so cutely angry but for now he shook these thoughts off because he had a job to do.

“I’m gonna ring the bell now,” he told Jihoon and the omega straightened his face before nodding his head.

As soon as Soonyoung pressed the bottom a shrill sound went off and the alpha wrinkled his nose in distaste. That was a nasty sound for a bell and he most probably couldn’t live with hearing it regularly.

A tall woman opened the door, she had dark circles under her eyes and slightly messy hair. She had just lost her brother, so Soonyoung wasn’t surprised that she wasn’t in good shape. He was sure that he would look worse in a similar situation.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” the alpha told her while showing his police badge. The woman only nodded shortly and stepped a bit to the side.

“I was expecting you. Please come inside.”

Soonyoung and Jihoon took their shoes off and followed the sister through a small hallway into the living room. She walked to a big table where she sat down, the two officers doing the same at once. Soonyoung looked around the room shortly and saw many photos on a side table. She was with a man and two children in most of the photos and in some with her brother and most probably their parents. It was a bit unusual that her partner wasn’t here right now but some people prefer doing the questioning alone.

“Please tell me about your brother,” Soonyoung said slowly and the sister’s eyes lit up slightly.

“He was a great person. Always positive and gentle. He worked in a flower shop and loved it. He liked making people laugh.” The smile on the woman’s face slowly died down after talking and she sighed quietly. 

“What about his relationship with his mate?”

The victim’s sister looked confused at the alpha. It was a particular question in a situation like this and she might have sensed that it was somehow related to his brother’s death but even if she sensed it, she didn’t comment on it. “They mated a year ago. Actually he had been in a long relationship before but they separated before getting mated. He had been in a bit of a slump for half a year afterward but then he met his current mate in the flower shop and they were attracted to each other at once. Fated mates. Everything went then very fast and they started dating soon after they met and mated quickly too. They were really happy. His mate is a nice guy. He… he must go through hell right now. We all are but for an alpha a situation like this is hardly manageable. The anger is too big.”

Soonyoung nodded and thought about the information he got for a moment. The victim broke up with his alpha like all of Min Jaeho’s victims had done too. Again the cases were similar but not the same because all of Min Jaeho’s victims couldn’t deal with the breakup but the new victim had found another partner after the breakup and had been happily mated. Soonyoung wasn’t sure if he should ask more questions about his break up or not.

While the alpha was still weighing out his choices, Jihoon made the decision for him with talking first. “When your brother and his ex broke up, did he search for help somewhere?”

Soonyoung wanted to sigh loudly because of Jihoon’s rash behavior but maybe it would be good to ask this question instead of burying it. After all they still had no idea how the killer had selected his victim. As the case was clearly connected to Min Jaeho’s, knowing if he went to an omega help group after the breakup or not could be a first step.

“No, I talked a lot to him. My parents did too. I don’t think he needed to go to a psychiatrist or something. He already started dating again half a year later so his bad phase didn’t last that long.”

This seemed to be a dead end. They needed to know where the killer had found his victim so in the end Soonyoung needed to ask directly.

“Do you have an idea who did this to your brother?”

“No, my brother was well-liked. He was working in a flower shop and enjoyed his life with his family and friends. There was no reason to… to do this to him.” The sister looked like she was close to tears and Soonyoung knew they should finish this talk fast. 

“Did he mention that he felt like someone was following him?”

The sister shook her head and sniffed quietly. “No, never. We meet very regularly and called each other all the time too. He never mention something out of the ordinary.”

Soonyoung looked at Jihoon and the omega gave him a subtle nod. They were done here for the day.

“Thank you very much. That is everything for now. If we have more questions, can we call you?”

All three of them got up from their seats while the sister answered the question. “Yes, of course. I’ll do everything to help to catch the killer.”

They walked the way back to the entrance and at the door Soonyoung and Jihoon both bowed deeply. “Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us,” Jihoon told the sister who had a strange faraway look in her eyes.

“Please catch the killer of my younger brother.”

It is often the deepest wish of the victim’s family to see the killer getting caught and punished. It wasn’t giving them their loved one back but at least it gave them some peace of mind when the criminal wasn’t on the loose anymore. Soonyoung always wanted to give the promise that he would catch the killer with his own hands but he knew that it wasn’t always possible to catch the criminal - even if he tried his hardest. It was a promise he was not allowed to make.

“We’ll do everything possible to catch the murderer.”

Soonyoung and Jihoon left the house and walked back to the car. Neither of them said anything until they closed the doors of Soonyoung’s silver van.

“This just made everything more confusing. The victim had a breakup but soon afterward found his fated partner. There seems to be no connection to the omega help group,” Jihoon said to Soonyoung while the alpha started the engine of the car.

“It seems that way but we can’t know for sure. Nothing in this case makes sense. As long as we don’t know where the killer found his victims, we need to keep our eyes open in all directions.”

Soonyoung drove off and Jihoon laughed quietly beside him. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh well, it’s just amusing that you first didn’t want to see it as a possibility that Min Jaeho was somehow involved in this case and now you say that we have to look in all directions.”

Soonyoung’s eyes narrowed slightly without noticing it. “Do you want to fight now?”

“As if you would ever truly fight me. You don’t have that in you.”

Soonyoung was clenching his jaw in annoyance but didn’t answer his boyfriend. 

“You look like you want to disagree. No?”

Soonyoung wasn’t sure if he wanted to agree or disagree or something in between. There was only one thing he was sure of. “You are trying to provoke me.”

“I would never do that,” Jihoon told him innocently. Sweet pheromones suddenly started filling the narrow space of the car.

Soonyoung laughed dryly and opened the window of the car, not wanting to play Jihoon’s game of push and pull right now. Jihoon was obviously still rebelling. He was still angry that Soonyoung held his alpha nature back, still disappointed that he didn’t have the full trust of his partner. All of Jihoon’s behavior was screaming dissatisfaction and that fact was much more stressful to Soonyoung than his boyfriend subtly telling him that he wasn’t alpha enough to get angry and him.

The good thing was that the omega seemed to be over the phone call with the doctor already but Soonyoung couldn’t feel all that happy about it when Jihoon was discontent either way.

Soonyoung looked from the corner of his eye at his boyfriend who had turned away from him and looked out of the window. They weren’t making any progress. Not in the case and also not in their relationship.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A day later Soonyoung was sitting in his office at the police station while still busily looking through the victim’s things and tried at the same time to solve the riddle of the letter but he neither did find anything nor could come up with an answer. He thought he would find something immediately but on the second day, there was no hint to the murderer. At the back of his mind, the talk with Jihoon from the day before was nagging at him constantly making it difficult to concentrate. It wasn’t good for them to have these troubles while trying to solve a complicated murder case because it kept on interfering with their work. Soonyoung was always very professional but an agonized alpha mind was difficult to control and Jihoon probably felt irritated too. It couldn’t continue like this. They were owning to the victim’s family and also the victim that they concentrate at work solely on the case. The little fight they had going on needed to end right now.

Soonyoung’s stomach rumbled loudly and he fell back onto the chair in annoyance. It was noon already so it might be the right time to go out and eat something and he already had an idea whom he should ask. The alpha got up from the chair and grabbed his coat. He left his office and instead of turning right to the open-plan office of his team, he went to the left and knocked at the door of another office. He went inside after a deep voice told him to come in.

“I didn’t expect you here, Soonyoung. What can I do for you?” Seungcheol gave him a wide smile and put the papers he had in his hand on the table.

“Go to lunch with me? I have some things to talk about.” Soonyoung wasn’t used to ask people for help. For years he had dealt with troubles by himself which had been okay because he always had been alone. But now things were different that Jihoon was involved and he didn’t want to ruin their relationship again, so asking for help was the least he could do, even if it wasn’t easy for him.

“Sure, just let me write Hannie that I have no time to go to lunch with him today. He told me earlier that Seungkwan needed help with something, so this might be good timing.” Seungcheol typed a message into his phone fast and Soonyoung wasn’t sure if the other alpha had told him the truth or if he just didn’t want him to feel bad for canceling the lunch date with his mate. Either way, he was thankful that the older one came easily along without asking any questions.

When Seungcheol had sent the message, they made their way in silence over to a nearby restaurant. On the way, Soonyoung was trying to sort out his thoughts but it was more difficult than expected. He didn’t know how to explain Seungcheol the problems he and Jihoon had. 

In the restaurant they both sat down and ordered food after looking shortly at the menu. Seungcheol smiled at him and cocked his head slightly to the side. “I’m a bit surprised you asked me to eat lunch with you. I heard from Hannie that your new case is very complicated. You seem to be a person who never makes a break while working on a difficult case. What is giving you such a big headache that you can’t concentrate on work?” 

Soonyoung almost wanted to laugh. He wasn’t sure if Seungcheol knew so well how his mind worked because he was an alpha too or if he was simply very easy to figure out. “It’s about Jihoon.”

“Of course it is,” Seungcheol said in a light voice, his laugh ringing loudly through the small restaurant. “What’s the trouble in paradise?”

“It’s complicated. Jihoon is a bit hormonal again and angry that I don’t sleep with him, especially that I don’t want to knot him but he doesn’t get it that it’s hard on his body while he’s neither in heat or pre-heat. He’ll probably go into pre-heat very soon though, his heat should be less than two weeks away and the doctor said his body wants to go into heat as soon as possible. I thought it would be a good idea to take it slower this time but Jihoon seems to be really frustrated and angry with me because he thinks I don’t trust him.”

Seungcheol furrowed his brow at Soonyoung’s story. “Why does he think you don’t trust him?”

“Probably because I’m still trying to be careful with him as omega,” Soonyoung said while knowing very well that it was only half of the truth.

“So you don’t trust him?”

Soonyoung immediately waved Seungcheol off. “No, it’s not that I don’t trust him, I’m just afraid he’s overestimating himself. He thinks he knows now everything about alpha-omega-relationships just from reading some books and having some talks. I want to take it slow so he won’t be overwhelmed.”

A waiter brought them their food while Seungcheol looked like he was in deep thought. He picked up his chopsticks but almost immediately laid them back down.

“There is more right? What exactly is the core problem here?”

Soonyoung suddenly wasn’t sure if he could talk to someone beside Jihoon about their troubles, his troubles. Seungcheol looked at him with gentle eyes and when he still didn’t talk he picked up his chopsticks and started eating. He obviously wanted to give him all the time he needed to find the courage to talk. Soonyoung’s thoughts were circling Jihoon’s and his problems again and again but in the end, talking to someone else about the conflict seemed to be the best choice, even if it was difficult for him.

Soonyoung took a deep breath and finally answered Seungcheol’s question. “Jihoon said… Jihoon said he’s ready to submit but I don’t believe him.”

The older alpha stopped eating at once. The surprise on his face was easy to see and Soonyoung regretted for a moment what he had just told the other.

“Okay, wow that’s really a problem. And do you know what Soonyoung? That sounds more like your problem than Jihoon’s problem. If you want to be together with Ji for a long time, you have to learn to let go of all your restrictions. If he’s the one for you, you need to allow you to be yourself. If Jihoon says that he is ready to submit then you have to believe him. He’s probably really hurt that you are refusing him to live out your alpha-omega-relationship. Also for you, it can’t be easy, an alpha needs certain things in a relationship much more than an omega does. That’s why the omega always has the upper hand in a relationship because we are too dumbly hormonal most of the time. How are you even holding yourself back when he told you he wants to submit? I mean, this is Jihoon we are talking about. It’s difficult for me to imagine that he openly talked to you about submitting. Every other alpha would have snapped the second he said that.”

When Jihoon told him that he wanted to submit, his alpha mind did take over for a short moment and he wanted nothing more than to take him apart that very moment. Luckily for Soonyoung that they had been at work and he regained his senses very fast. 

“I’m good at controlling myself, always had been. Of course I’m at a point where it’s not easy for me but I just don’t want to hurt him. I’m afraid everything might fall apart again. It’s much more difficult for me to let go than it is for Jihoonie.”

Seungcheol leaned back in his chair and sighed loudly. “Soonyoung I’ll ask you now a question and I promise you to never talk to someone about it, not even Hannie because it’s a very private question, but you need to answer it. Are you planning to be Jihoon’s mate?”

“Yes,” the alpha answered without any hesitation. He couldn’t imagine being without Jihoon in the future. Another person or even being alone wasn’t an option anymore at this point. The connection with Jihoon was already running far too deep.

“Then trust Ji. Trust him and trust yourself. If you want to be together with him until the end, then you need to trust.” Seungcheol made a short break and chuckled quietly, obviously amused about something. “And about the knotting, don’t worry. I get what you mean and yes it is kind of hard on the body, but don’t deny him what he wants. His body probably just wants to go into heat... excuse my rude words, but you should just fuck him into heat. Fill him up as often as possible and put a plug into him. He‘ll be probably in heat one or two days afterward already and then you both don’t have to deal with his hormonal problems anymore. Seriously, just give him what he needs if you love him.“ 

Soonyoung gaped at the older one for being so straight forward. Seungcheol seemed to notice that the other alpha was a bit shocked by his words because he smiled sheepishly at him while running a hand through his hair.

“Never tell Ji I said that. He‘ll have my head for giving you advice on your sex life.”

Soonyoung shook his head and shoved all uncomfortableness aside. This was what he needed to hear. Someone needed to tell him that he was behaving like a coward. He shouldn’t run away all the time because he was too afraid of things falling apart once more. He needed the trust that Jihoon and him would be forever.

“I think he would be happy to hear what you just told me because sex seems to be overly important to him right now. It’s like a bad deja vu, you know. Before we separated it had been similar.”

Seungcheol waved him off and started eating again. “Similar but not the same. Jihoon worked hard on accepting his omega biology. And I think he did that not only for himself but for you too.”

Soonyoung knew that but up to now the trust he needed to take a step forward had been missing. He had made a lot of mistakes before their breakup and he had been afraid to make other mistakes this time but talking everything through with Seungcheol took this heavy weight off his shoulders. Maybe he needed the reassurance of another alpha that he wasn’t messing up again. Maybe he needed the reassurance that it was okay to be just himself with all the flaws he had and with all the needs of an alpha he tried to suppress for the longest time.

“Just go back to work and then have sex the whole night. Have fun. Bye.” Soonyoung got up from his chair without ever having touched his food but didn’t make a move to leave the restaurant. “Why are you still hesitating? Are you right now thinking that you shouldn’t do that because of your new case?”

Soonyoung woke up from his frozen state when he heard Seungcheol’s words. “No case is more important than Jihoon. I just thought I need to buy something before going back to work.”

“So you made up your mind?” Seungcheol asked him happily, already knowing the answer to his question because Soonyoung’s sudden bright smile was showing exactly what was going on in his mind. 

“Yes, I did. You’re right, I need to trust Jihoonie and myself. Thank you for talking some sense into me. I need to go now so I’ll make it in time back when the break is over. Thank you so much again, Seungcheol-hyung!” Soonyoung told the older alpha and run as fast as possible out of the restaurant.

There was one thing his alpha mind told him to do right now and this time he wouldn’t go against his feelings and longings. He wasn’t scared anymore.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Back at the office, Soonyoung felt nervousness creeping upon him. He was going to take an important step forward and he was sure he would start hesitating again when he didn’t talk to Jihoon at once. He got his phone out and sent Jihoon a short message to come to his office.

Jihoon arrived at his office only two minutes later looking slightly stressed. “What is it? I’m busy.”

Soonyoung got up from his chair and walked around the table to stand in front of Jihoon. “I thought it was time to exchange this,” the alpha said in a gentle voice and grabbed Jihoon’s hand to pull off the children’s bracelet that had been there for much too long already. He put it onto the table and picked up a black box. He took out a massive bracelet that looked like it consisted out of four interwoven strings, three silver, and one gold in the middle. It was a pretty work of art.

Soonyoung put the bracelet carefully on Jihoon’s wrist and turned his hand around to look at it from every side. “It suits you,” the alpha said with a hint of a smirk on his lips.

Jihoon blinked rapidly in a mixture of confusion and embarrassment. Soonyoung chuckled lowly and pulled the omega closer, still gripping his wrist with the bracelet tightly. 

“I’ll have to buy something after work, Jihoonie. Can you be a good omega and get yourself dolled up and wait for me at home?” Jihoon blushed brightly, probably because he had never heard Soonyoung say something like that. Soonyoung couldn’t deny that he liked that look on Jihoon. He loved Jihoon’s confidence but from time to time it was nice to see the omega getting shy too.

Jihoon still stared at Soonyoung in shock, struggling to find the right words but no answer left his mouth. Soonyoung could sense his ongoing irritation and couldn’t resist to work him up even more. He leaned down to swipe his tongue slowly over Jihoon’s bottom lip which left the omega completely dazed behind. “So can you be a good omega for me or not honey?” Jihoon nodded his head making Soonyoung smile at him gently. “Good. Let’s go back to work then.”

Jihoon just stood there in confusion, not showing the slightest inclination that he would leave any time soon. Soonyoung raised his hand and cupped the omega’s face for a moment before pinching his cheek strongly. Jihoon made a shocked noise and swatted Soonyoung’s hand away, the alpha’s laughter filling the whole room. Jihoon looked scandalized at him before finally turning around to leave for the door.

“Don’t forget your promise!” Soonyoung shouted after him happily but the smaller officer loudly threw the door shut without saying another word.

They had a difficult case to work at but caring for Jihoon and putting their differences aside was more important. Jihoon would always be more important than anything else. He would work on this case and solve it as best and soon as possible but at the same time he would make sure that Jihoon was happy.

At this moment, standing in his office with his heart and mind finally at peace he made a promise to himself. There might be difficult times ahead and for sure, sometimes they would fight and scream at each other but he would never ever make Jihoon cry again. He never wanted to be the reason again that Jihoon would be sad and crying. Instead, if tough times hit them he would be the one to hug the other and give him strength

From now on they should start planning their forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) I’m back! A bit late again but well. This chapter is a strange in-between chapter with not that much happening but then again everything that is happening is very important for the story. Especially for Soonyoung who finally decided to let go of his restrictions and try to get their alpha-omega-relationship going. I actually planned long ago to write the last part of this chapter in Jihoon’s pov but it turned out to fall into a chapter in Soonyoung’s pov. It’s a bit of a pity because Jihoon’s inner reaction is pretty hilarious but I’ll try to show some of it in the next chapter which will be from Jihoon’s pov again. Next chapter… I don’t even have to talk about the next chapter, you can guess what it will be like either way haha. Oh but someone maybe got a guess about the numbers on the letter? :D It’s probably not getting easier to guess what the killer really wants to say.
> 
> Right, some days ago someone asked me why Code Red still had a plot when it would have had a nice ending already a long time ago. I know I don’t really have to explain myself because this is my story but since I like talking about my stories, here some of my thoughts. It never had been my goal to write this story in the normal format: Beginning, middle, climax, end. I wanted to show many phases of a relationship and while for some people this story might be boring and to drawn out at this point, I would feel bad if I wouldn’t finish it as planned. I’m still fairly new to writing and I’ experimenting with things right now so my stories are not perfect for sure but I’m happy when I can finish them well. Code Red really helped me with my writing a lot, it helped me see what needs to be done differently and with which aspects I’m happy and not happy while writing a story. So even while I’m struggling lately a bit with finishing this story because I feel the burning desire to start something new, I still want to finish Code Red without regrets. I thought about the remaining plot again and took some unnecessary things out to draw it not out too long. In the end I came up with 10 more chapters, which would mean that Code Red will end at 49 chapters, might turn into 50 as well, still not sure. At that point, I will have written all the things I wanted to write and if some of you’ll stay with me till the end, I’ll be very happy :D
> 
> On another note, I decided to do the fantasy au I talked about next. I started making an outline for it and I feel very happy with it because it’s very different from what I’ve done till now, story-wise but also character-wise. It has a much more solid story than Mask Kingdom and Code Red had. It’s a very light fantasy au because the setting is still quite modern and it has some overused chlichés that I’m trying to give a slightly different twist. Planning that au is a challenge and that’s probably what I need right now. Also it’s important that I’m really burning for the idea or I won’t be able to pull through until the end haha. I think it will be around 150-200k, which is a nice length (well, for me at least. In the end it’s all my personal preference). But yeah, I’ll start posting the story on the 1st of August. I already decided that. I hope I can finish Code Red until then, if not I’ll post both at the same time for two or three weeks :) I also made a teaser for my new story and posted it on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel/status/1262701329576873987?s=20), so you can watch it there if you like :D 
> 
> Since I’m on holiday right now, I should be able to update next week again and then the week afterward again. That one will have one of my favorite scenes of the remaining chapters :D I hope this chapter was at least a bit entertaining to read even though nothing grande has happened. Like always thank you so much for reading. I had a high increase in readers and I’m a bit confused about how that happened. Even if every reader rereads the story in between, it’s still an insane amount. So hi if you are new here and if you are still here after all this time: I love you :) Thank you for the support and the nice comments. Thank you for always cheering me up me when I’m in a difficult phase with my writing, I really really appreciate it <3
> 
> See you soon :D
> 
> P.S.: Happy 200k+ words to Code Red. I never intended the story to be _that_ long haha ha...


	40. Our Connection

Jihoon sat at his work table unmoving. He had been like this for the last ten minutes. His mind was busy trying to figure out if he only dreamed up what had happened in Soonyoung’s office or if it had been the reality. The bracelet glittering on his wrist was proof that it had been indeed no dream but the omega still couldn’t wrap his head around Soonyoung’s sudden change in behavior. The alpha had never before behaved like this and it had seemed he was still Soonyoung very much against giving in to his alpha instincts. It was strange how sudden the change came and Jihoon was very interested where it came from. He had wanted to ask that back in Soonyoung’s office but he had been simply too shocked to even say a single word - too shocked and too turned on.

Jihoon suddenly let out a loud groan and laid his head face-first onto the table. He had been angry, arguing that Soonyoung should trust him and simply behave like the alpha he is but now he wasn’t sure if that had been a good idea. Soonyoung behaving like an alpha might be his downfall. In the truest sense of the word because he had felt like going down onto his knees and that’s not something he was used to. He really had meant it when he told Soonyoung that he had no problem with submitting but wasn’t he a bit too easy? Jihoon pondered for a while on the question and decided that before being an omega reacting to an alpha he was just a guy who was very much in love with his boyfriend and maybe that was the answer to everything.

Jihoon sat up again and saw Wonwoo staring at him. Seokmin and Vernon were out for lunch so they were the only ones in the office. “What has gotten into you?”

Jihoon first wanted to answer that nothing was going on but decided against it. He suddenly got a certain craving and needed his friend’s help with it. “Wonwoo, I have to leave an hour earlier than normal. You have to cover for me.”

“What? Did something bad happened?” Wonwoo asked in a slightly worried voice and Jihoon felt almost bad he had made the other worry.

“No, nothing bad, just…” Jihoon stopped the sentence and thought about how to explain the situation but there was no good way to say it. He fidgeted with his fingers while looking at the door, not even knowing for what reason.

Wonwoo cleared his throat loudly and Jihoon looked back at his friend who suddenly had a strange expression on his face that was somewhere between smug and annoyed. “You‘re not just about to tell me that you want to ditch work because of some sexy time with Soonyoung, right?”

Jihoon shrugged while looking at the door again. “Maybe something like this.”

“Only this one time. The next time I‘ll complain to our team leader about it. But what would be even the use? You would probably enjoy getting punished.”

Jihoon jumped up from his seat and hit his friend on the arm, who started laughing loudly in return. “Oh my god, Wonwoo! Why would you now say things like that?? I would not get off on that.”

“Yeah, as if I believe you. Someone who runs all the time into danger without thinking must be a masochist for sure.” Wonwoo snickered, which just agitated Jihoon more.

“Sometimes I hate you. Never say something like this again.” Jihoon sat back onto his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked at the clock at the wall, suddenly wishing Seokmin and Vernon would return from their break.

“Why? Did I hit too close to the truth?” Wonwoo asked him with a still amused smile on his lips.

“I’m taking it back that I hate you sometimes. I hate you always!”

Wonwoo shrugged and pushed his glasses a bit higher on his nose. “We’ll talk again the day you are unable to sit on a chair because…”

Before Wonwoo could finish the sentence, Jihoon furiously waved his arms around and cut his friends words off. “Stop, that sentence right now.”

“Oh come on Jihoon. You know perfectly well that day will come. I still remember the day when you came into the office limping slightly. It will only get worse from now on.”

Jihoon made a sour face because there was no way he could deny that. “Can you stop talking about my sex life already?”

“You want me to cover for you, you live with me talking about your sex life.”

Jihoon felt very cheated because Wonwoo never talked about his sex own life. While Jeonghan was oversharing with his sex life, Wonwoo had been quiet about it ever since he started dating Mingyu. Retrospectively thinking, he might have done that because Jihoon never had been in a happy relationship. Wonwoo always did these insanely considerate things for Jihoon that he often only noticed much later. This might be one of them as well.

“I’ll get you back for this one day. I’ll talk to Mingyu and figure out your deepest, darkest secrets and then I’ll get you back for it.” While Jihoon was really thankful for Wonwoo’s long considerate behavior, he had crossed with his words a line for them. This was now a fight and Jihoon didn’t plan on losing to Wonwoo. Unfortunately, for now, his friend had the upper hand but he planned on changing that soon. 

“You try that. Meanwhile, I’m gonna ask Soonyoung why exactly his boyfriend needs to leave an hour earlier from work.”

“Don’t you dare.” Jihoon glared at his friend but Wonwoo just smugly smiled at him, much too used to the omega’s angry eyes.

“Go back to work Jihoon. You can think about having sex later.”

Jihoon huffed and grabbed the files of Min Jaeho’s case he had gotten earlier so he could refresh his memory on some things. Wonwoo was right, he had to do his work right now, and then later he could fully concentrate on Soonyoung. He sincerely hoped the alpha had the same after-work activity in mind as him or he would make a complete clown out of himself.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon walked into a cloth store in a shopping center near Soonyoung and his flat feeling a bit uncomfortable. He knew that leaving work one hour earlier for a petty reason like buying clothes was unforgivable but just this once he hoped he would be forgiven.

Jihoon looked around slightly lost in the store when a sales clerk came up to him. Normally Jihoon hated buying clothes in a shop out of the very reason that he didn’t want to talk to some stranger about what he wanted to wear. He didn’t need to hear in what clothes he would look cute with his small frame. It made him want to scream at the person when hearing such a comment and as a police officer that was no option.

The sales clerk stopped right in front of Jihoon and smiled brightly at him. Somehow he couldn’t be annoyed with the guy who was about the same height as him. Maybe because his smile reminded him of Soonyoung or maybe because seeing an omega in this situation was rather relaxing for him. 

“I need some clothes…” Jihoon mumbled, his face showing no emotions. It didn’t seem to bother the sales clerk because his smile was still as bright as before.

“What exactly are you searching for?” Jihoon wasn’t sure he could do this. He wanted to, but he felt quite embarrassed. There wasn’t any reason to, but it was still slightly difficult to distance himself from his old way of thinking at times, and buying stupid clothes to please his boyfriend certainly wasn’t something he had ever done before. But this wasn’t about just any boyfriend but about Soonyoung who was more special to him than any person had ever been before so he swallowed down his uneasiness and started answering.

“Something pink. Maybe a shirt? I just want to… to look nice for my boyfriend.” The longer he talked, the smaller his voice got. The sales clerk just smiled friendly at him and told him to come along. They walked along the aisle a bit and finally stopped in front of a big collection of pink clothes. Jihoon swallowed heavily at seeing so much pink. He liked the sight a bit too much for his liking. The salesman grabbed a pink sweater from the rack and handed it to Jihoon. It was made of a very thin, soft material and was a bit longer than normal. 

“You can wear it nicely without pants beneath.” Jihoon coughed loudly, but couldn’t deny the fact that the thought was intriguing. Maybe that was exactly what he was searching for. 

“Do you want to try it on?” 

Jihoon shook his head. “No need, I take it.” 

The other omega clapped happily. “Do you maybe want to buy some matching underwear too? We have really pretty panties.”

Jihoon let the shirt fall to the floor out of shock. “I d-don’t think that’s a good idea,” he stuttered. Jihoon had never worn any panties and also never had thought about it. 

“You think so? Is your boyfriend an alpha? It drives most alphas wild, but if you feel uncomfortable then please just ignore my suggestion.” The sales clerk wanted to walk away in the direction of the register but Jihoon jumped into his way.

“No, wait. Maybe I’m interested after all…”

Jihoon still hadn’t figured out what would make Soonyoung snap. Maybe it was time to test out if certain clothes would work.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Jihoon rushed into their flat he looked at his phone and saw that Soonyoung should have already finished work by now so he probably didn’t have all that much time left. He sprinted with the bag in his hand to the bedroom, took his clothes off, and threw them carelessly into the wardrobe. He put on what he just bought and looked in the mirror. Not bad, certainly too cute and sexy for going outside but for upcoming happening it would work well. The thin sweater wasn’t as oversized as he had expected so it fell nicely around his frame. It ended mid-thigh and showed off a lot his legs. The pink color fit his pale skin tone and made him look quite soft. Nothing he would strive for in normal life but Soonyoung would probably appreciate it and that was the only important thing right now. 

The longer Jihoon looked at the mirror, the more he was sure that something was still missing. He went to the bathroom and plugged in the hair iron he hadn’t used for years. While it was heating up, he searched frantically through a small bag and got some items out.

He went back to look at the hair iron and saw that it was heated up completely and started putting his light brown hair into a slightly curly hairstyle. He had done that often years ago at university but when he started working as a police officer he didn’t have the time and patience for it anymore. Jihoon turned the iron off when he was happy with the result and grabbed a lip tint he got from Jeonghan as present at the beginning of the year because “he never tried to look pretty anymore and how should he ever meet then someone”. He applied it carefully and almost gagged when he saw the overly pink color on his lips. He grabbed some toilet paper and swiped it off again. Only a slight pink sheen was left and with that, he could live. He might try to impress Soonyoung but certainly not with bright pink lips, that wasn’t him. He pondered a while over putting on some kajal around his eyes and decided to try it out. The result was satisfying, so Jihoon walked back into the bedroom and looked one more time into the full-length mirror. He had to chuckle at his reflection because, oh my god he really had tried hard. If Soonyoung wouldn’t snap seeing him like this, he would probably never snap.

He walked over to the bedside table where a small box with his accessories was. He looked through it for something suitable but he had trouble deciding. A choker didn’t seem like a wise choice because he would probably strangulate himself with that while having sex, instead, he took out a silver necklace that he had never worn before. He bought it a couple of years ago but never felt like wearing it. It consisted of several thin chains with a small pendant in a star-shape on one of them. It was made to lay close at the throat but not so close that it would strangulate him. He put it on and looked once more in the mirror and decided he was done.

Jihoon walked over to the couch and sat down. Only then he really noticed how much the shirt was showing of his legs. He felt self-conscious for a second unsure if he maybe had gone too far with the outfit. In the end, he decided that he didn’t care. Jihoon just wanted to look pretty for the person he loved most in the world. There was nothing wrong with it and nothing to feel embarrassed about. He didn’t want to run away from his feelings and urges anymore. He was an omega and that came with certain cravings, but he couldn’t care less because he was was still himself. Prideful and hardworking Lee Jihoon but for Soonyoung he also could be the omega he never had wanted to be. Because Soonyoung and him, alpha and omega fit together perfectly and he had no intention of ever changing that again.

The police officer scrolled through his phone while waiting for Soonyoung but got bored with it fast. His boyfriend should arrive soon either way. He stood up and walked into the kitchen. He drank there some coke from a bottle in the fridge and went back into the living room. He looked at the entrance door but still no Soonyoung there.

Jihoon thought about sitting back on the couch and then about just waiting at the entrance door. He felt overly excited and slightly nervous at this point. This evening wouldn’t be comparable to what they had done before. He was curious how different Soonyoung would behave. Even though he had told his boyfriend earlier that he didn’t have it in him to fight, he was sure the other could be very much like an alpha. He had witnessed it when he had almost killed Min Jaeho, he had seen Soonyoung getting really angry when he was in danger. The dangerous glint in his eyes, the strong attitude, and dominant behavior was all there but Soonyoung chose to hide it normally.

Jihoon wasn’t sure how much his boyfriend would show him today and how he would exactly behave. Soonyoung was the nice guy, always had been. It was strange for Jihoon to imagine him as anything else but gentle and nice. Maybe he was overthinking and nothing special would even be happening today.

Suddenly Soonyoung’s words from earlier were ringing loudly in his ears “can you be a good omega for me, honey?”. No, something would happen. It was clear as glass. This was about sex and if it wasn’t he would rip off Soonyoung’s head for making him waste his time with shopping and dressing up.

While still busily thinking about what might happen, Jihoon heard the code to the flat being entered. He hastily looked around and thought about jumping on the couch or hiding in the bedroom. In the end, he didn’t move at all and stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room staring with wide eyes at the door.

Soonyoung stepped into their flat, closed the door, and stopped for a moment to look at Jihoon. There was a paper bag in his hand and the omega was curious about what was inside but even more curious he was what his boyfriend thought about his look. Disappointing enough there was no reaction on his face, he looked completely calm.

The alpha hang his jacket on the rack and when he slowly came closer, Jihoon noticed that something was different today. Soonyoung’s attitude was much more overpowering and his pheromones were a lot stronger than normal. The scent of coffee and mint that normally caressed his senses gently pressed Jihoon right now into a more submissive state of mind, but instead of fighting it, he just let himself glide into it. Normally Jihoon was the one pushing the alpha around but today he accepted it that it would be most probably the other way around. For once he also wanted to experience how it would be like to give in to his biology completely. This had nothing to do with their relationship. He just wanted to explore their dynamic inside the bedroom differently, wanted to see how much he likes it, and also wanted to do it for Soonyoung and their relationship. He trusted Soonyoung and that’s exactly why he was willing to try. 

Soonyoung stopped right in front of the omega and caressed Jihoon’s cheek slowly. He gave him a short kiss on the lips, only to smirk at him afterward. “You look good enough to eat.” Jihoon thought a moment about talking back but the need to do it wasn’t big enough, so he just kept quiet. While thinking about this, Soonyoung had started kissing slowly down Jihoon’s neck just to stop again to look at the omega. His eyes traveled up and down Jihoon’s petit form and the omega felt his face heating up. 

“Did you buy that just for me? You said you would never buy any pink clothes.” Jihoon swallowed, slight nervousness creeping up in him. 

“I wanted to... look pretty for you.” Jihoon looked away from Soonyoung but the alpha immediately grabbed his chin and turned his head around again. 

“Don’t be shy with me. You’re always the most beautiful person to me, Jihoonie. But that you bought this especially for me makes me so happy. You’re so, so beautiful. Pink really suits you and your legs are to die for. I don’t know what I did in my previous life to deserve you.”

Even though all of Soonyoung’s words were sweet, Jihoon could feel the alpha‘s pheromones impact more and more. He was close to sliding down to his knees, just barely holding on. He needed to submit. The feeling was just too strong. 

“I bought something for you,” Soonyoung whispered into his ear and bit into it afterward. Jihoon let out a whimper because his ears were as sensitive as always but still reached with slightly shaking hands for the bag in Soonyoung’s hands.

There were two boxes inside, he took one of them out. He colored slightly pink when he saw what was inside. He put it back into the bag and pulled the other item out. “You bought two anal plugs?”

“What can I do? We’ll need two.” Jihoon furrowed his brows while thinking about why the hell they would need two of these. They were almost identical, slick metal with a gemstone at the end. One was gold with a pink stone and one silver with a light blue one.

Soonyoung leaned down to Jihoon again and kissed along his ear making the smaller man squirm slightly in his hold. “If your body wants to go into heat, we can arrange that. My cum will stay so long inside your body until your pre-heat hits.”

Jihoon’s face heated up even more. Now he kind of understood what Soonyoung was planning.

“I’m gonna fill you up real good, honey. I’m gonna take good care of you today. Come, let‘s go to the bedroom, Jihoonie.” Soonyoung took Jihoon by the hand and gently pulled him along to the bedroom, on the way there taking the bag out of the omega’s hand.

“Lie down,” the alpha told him and Jihoon almost fell over his own feet while hurrying to the bed and laying down as requested. Soonyoung took his sweet time to walk over to the bed while watching Jihoon with a predatory gaze.

“I’ll fill you up until you pass out today, Jihoonie. How many times do you think you can come?”

Jihoon’s eyes were shaking slightly while trying to come up with an answer. “Three or four times... maybe?”

“Let’s make it five or six.” Jihoon swallowed hardly. He didn’t think he could last that many rounds but Soonyoung looked dead serious.

Instead of getting onto the bed as well, Soonyoung walked to the bathroom. Jihoon wondered for a moment what he was doing there but remembered the plugs when he heard a box being opened. Soonyoung most probably wanted to sterilize them first which Jihoon strongly agreed on.

The older one came back after a couple of minutes and placed the two plugs on the bedside table and finally got onto the bed to position himself over his boyfriend’s body. Soonyoung pushed the pink sweater up Jihoon’s legs and immediately stopped when he saw the pink lace panties. Jihoon felt like dying out of embarrassment at that moment. Why did he think it was a good idea to buy these again? When he saw them in the shop he thought wearing these might rile up Soonyoung but now he regretted his rash decision. Jihoon fell into a slight panic believing the alpha hated the panties because he simply had been staring unmoving for a minute straight. He just wanted to push the sweater down again when he smelt Soonyoung’s pheromones flaring up strongly. The coffee scent got so overpowering that he almost couldn’t breathe anymore. The alpha looked at Jihoon with raw want in his eyes and the omega couldn’t help but starting to tremble slightly. 

“Did you also buy these to look pretty for me?” Soonyoung’s voice sounded completely different. Much deeper, almost like a growl. Jihoon didn’t dare speaking up so he only nodded his head. “Say it.” Jihoon felt slick running out of his hole dampening the thin material of the panties. Soonyoung’s overpowering attitude was arousing him so much that his body instantly reacted to it.

“I bought the panties to look pretty for you Soonyoung. I wanted to be a good omega... I wanted to be good, but I made the panties already wet.” Jihoon could see in Soonyoung’s eyes how every restriction in the alpha snapped. Soonyoung leaned down to kiss the omega aggressively while rubbing hard with his hand over Jihoon’s hard dick in the small panties. When he stopped the kiss both of them were breathing harshly. Jihoon kept on moaning in between panting because Soonyoung never stopped caressing his dick. The lace felt rough against his length when the alpha rubbed him so hard, but it just aroused him more. The whole situation was highly arousing to Jihoon. He had worked so hard to get Soonyoung to this point that now the alpha was here manhandling him like this, he felt ready to burst. Soonyoung suddenly stopped rubbing his dick and instead let his hand travel to his ass feeling the soaking wet material of the panties there.

“I can’t believe you’re wearing lace panties. It’s driving me insane. I want to rip them off and fuck you but I also want to see you come in the panties,” Soonyoung told him in low voice. There was still a dangerous glint in his eyes and it spurned Jihoon on to rile his partner even more up. 

“Can’t y-you rip them in the aaahhh, in the back, and fuck me while I‘m s-still wearing them?” Jihoon asked innocently and Soonyoung eyes narrowed dangerously.

“You know exactly what you are doing, aren’t you Jihoonie? You’re so manipulative. I‘ll fuck this naughty behavior out of you today. That’s what you want, right? You want me to wreck you so much until you are crying and screaming.” Jihoon didn’t know why but every word coming out of Soonyoung’s mouth was extremely sexy and arousing. He never knew he could get off so much on dominant behavior.

Instead of doing as Jihoon had suggested, Soonyoung slipped the panties off and threw them to the side, immediately spreading Jihoon legs wide. He pushed two fingers into Jihoon’s hole without hesitating for a second. The omega was already leaking slick so heavily that he didn’t feel any uncomfortableness at all. “You’re so wet. Is it because you are so aroused or because you’re close to your heat?”

“Don’t k-know…” Jihoon panted out. Soonyoung was much rougher than what the omega was used to and pumped his fingers harshly in and out of him. Jihoon was far from being bothered by it, instead, it felt like it was not nearly enough. “More, more!!”

“Honey, you‘re not the one who is in charge today,” Soonyoung had an amused smile on his lips but his predatory gaze was a strong contradiction. Jihoon knew that the alpha would not cater to his begging today, his instincts were clearly telling him to not even try. Especially not when he would try to pull some psychological tricks, still he pushed his instincts to the side and tried.

“Youngie, please!!”

“Your cute begging is not gonna help you.” There was a slightly harsher edge to Soonyoung’s voice which made a tremble go through Jihoon’s body and he started leaking even more slick at once. Jihoon was sure he had never been this turned on in his life. His body was overly hot, with the pink shirt clinging to his sweaty skin. He wanted it off but he didn’t have it in him to voice it out loud.

“Nghh please…”

Soonyoung slipped easily a third finger inside while Jihoon moved his hips helplessly chasing greater pleasure. “My patience is very thin today Jihoonie, let’s finish this fast.” Before Jihoon could even get used to being more stretched open, a fourth finger already squeezed harshly into Jihoon’s hole, the omega screaming out loudly. “You should save your breath honey. This is only the beginning.”

Soonyoung’s words were ringing like a sweet promise in his ears. The omega couldn’t even imagine all the things they would do from here on but he was sure he would love every single thing of it. There was no fear, just the knowledge deep in his soul that he needed and wanted this. 

Soonyoung moved his fingers fast inside Jihoon, spreading him far open in between. The omega only keened highly, neither complaining or begging at this point. Only a few minutes later, Soonyoung pulled his fingers out, whipping them off carelessly on the sheets. Out of instinct, Jihoon pulled his legs up which resulted in the alpha growling at him. The older one ripped his clothes off in a hurry and positioned himself over his boyfriend’s body again. Soonyoung immediately thrust hard into Jihoon, the omega letting out a mixture of a strangled moan and a scream.

Soonyoung was really not into taking it slow today and thrust hard in a relentless rhythm into Jihoon’s body. The omega had expected it to hurt a lot more when Soonyoung was so rough with him because even though they took it slow the first two times it was hurting a lot. This time the pain was completely tolerable, maybe because Soonyoung was producing so heavily pheromones that Jihoon’s body was more relaxed or maybe he just wanted to be fucked like this. Jihoon wasn’t sure why but he also couldn’t care less when it felt so amazing. He was moaning constantly, already much too close to orgasm because of their foreplay. He shook hard while trying not to come immediately like a virgin, his face contorting slightly at the effort.

“Just come, honey. I’ll make you climax many more times afterward.” Soonyoung rammed hard right into his sweet spot and Jihoon’s small body twitched helplessly on the bed while climaxing. He didn’t even register while reaching his high that he was constantly screaming out his boyfriend’s name. Only when ropes of cum had pooled on his belly and his mind cleared up again, he noticed the smug expression on the alpha’s face. He shut his mouth immediately, moving his head to the side in embarrassment.

“Let’s switch the position, cutie.” 

Soonyoung had already pulled out before Jihoon could ask why and moved the omega around. “Hands and knees,” he told him lowly. 

Jihoon felt like complaining but the alpha’s voice told him that he wouldn’t take a no as an answer. Jihoon pushed himself up to his hands and knees and Soonyoung grabbed his hips at once placing the blunt head of his cock at Jihoon’s entrance. “Soonyoung, I….”

Before Jihoon could finish the sentence, Soonyoung pushed in one go into him. Jihoon’s mouth fell open into a silent scream, his arm giving out at once crushing face-first onto the bed. Soonyoung held strongly onto his hips all the while building up a steady rhythm.

Jihoon moved his head to the side, so he could breathe again, cushioning his head with his hands. He didn’t like this position. It was uncomfortable and most of all he hated it because he wasn’t able to see Soonyoung. “Want to... ahhhh, see you.” 

“No. I like this position. I can fill you up the deepest like this. Your body wants to go into heat, so I’m gonna fill you up the best way possible. But don’t worry. I‘ll make it really good for you.”

Jihoon gripped the sheets tightly, moaning when Soonyoung rammed even deeper into him. “Please, ahh, p-please, let me see you. Please.”

Soonyoung considerably sped up his thrusts, Jihoon’s eyes rolling back in his head at feeling the alpha so deep inside. “Since when are you so whiny? You should love this and not make demands.”

“I’m sorry, ahhhh ahh, Soonyoung.” The harsher the alpha got, the more difficult it was to cope with everything. This position let him feel the full size of Soonyoung’s cock much more. If it would be possible to feel too good, it was probably this feeling.

“Don’t you like this, honey?” Soonyoung asked him, his voice still very steady. Jihoon couldn’t understand how the alpha was able to fuck him so brutally for such a long time and neither came nor seemed to be close to climax. The omega on the other hand felt his next climax already approaching because his boyfriend’s dick was constantly scraping along his prostate.

“It’s t-too much! You’re s-so deep.”

Soonyoung grabbed Jihoon’s hips even tighter, his fingers digging deep into his skin sure to leave marks there. “I know baby. You’re taking my cock so well.”

Jihoon felt tears pricking at his eyes. His hole clenched around Soonyoung’s cock and the alpha let out a loud moan, his cock twitching deep inside the omega’s body. Jihoon was going crazy. His body and mind were in complete overload not able to keep up with what was going on anymore.

“S-soon, I c-can’t… ahhhh.”

“Shhh, I‘ll make it even better for you.” Soonyoung adjusted their position a bit and pulled Jihoon’s ass slightly higher by the hips. The alpha pushed hard back into the small body under him and Jihoon could do nothing more than scream, his voice already hoarse at this point.

“AHHHH AHHH!” Jihoon was close to blacking out because the pleasure he felt was insanely good. Soonyoung was ramming so hard and deep into him, hitting his prostate in an angle he had never experienced before. “Ahh hmm, please, you‘re so d-deep!” Jihoon was just rambling nonsense at this point, not able to sort out his thoughts anymore. 

“Move your hips a bit.” Jihoon’s whole body was shaking and he couldn’t make a clear thought anymore but out of instinct he tried to fulfill the alpha’s demand and rolled his hips against the harsh thrusts. “That’s it. So good, Jihoonie.”

The omega was rushing towards orgasm fast. He wiggled his overheated body helplessly around on the bed, the material of the pink shirt already completely damp clinging to his skin annoyingly. He wanted to come, he was so close. He wanted to let go and finally relax his body and mind but he couldn’t. “Soon, please…”

Soonyoung’s thrusts staggered and his cock twitched even stronger inside his boyfriend’s body. “I‘m gonna knot you, Jihoonie.”

As soon as he heard the words, Jihoon knew that his body had waited for that and he was glad Soonyoung finally gave him what he had been craving for so long already. 

“PLEASE!!”

Soonyoung pushed three more times into Jihoon until the knot slowly started expanding. He kept on thrusting in and out of Jihoon, the omega screeching each time the overly thick base of Soonyoung’s cock entered his body. The alpha harshly pushed the knot a final time into Jihoon and it expanded to its final size, locking the two of them together. Soonyoung let out a sound that was somewhere between a growl and a moan and spilled his seed multiple times deep into Jihoon’s body.

Jihoon moaned and scratched at the bedsheets reaching his climax too, spilling his cum on the sheets below. They both panted harshly for a while before Soonyoung rolled them around so both of them were lying on their sides on a clean part of the bed. Soonyoung pressed himself close to Jihoon’s back and kissed his neck lazily.

“Shirt off,” Jihoon complained because he couldn’t stand the damp material clinging to his body anymore. They both got up a bit and Soonyoung helped him to take the pink sweater off, throwing it to the side afterward. They both laid down again and Jihoon allowed him finally to relax a bit.

Soonyoung obviously had other things than relaxing in mind because he started biting into Jihoon’s neck and shoulder, always carefully avoiding the omega’s scent gland. Jihoon tried to wiggle away but the alpha immediately held him close in an iron grip. Soonyoung kissed and sucked at one of the marks he made for a moment before he started rolling his hips, moving the knot inside Jihoon around slightly.

Jihoon mewled quietly at the pleasure shooting up his spine. The knot was rubbing so hard against his prostate that he felt his cock immediately stirring back to life. “Hmm, nooo!”

“No what?” Soonyoung asked while trying to move even more inside Jihoon.

“I’m getting hard again,” Jihoon whined still trying to get out of his boyfriend’s grip but it was of no use. 

“That’s the whole point, Jihoonie. I might have knotted you but we can just keep going.”

Jihoon gave finally up and let his head fall back against Soonyoung. His pants turned fast into breathy moans and his hips started moving to the slow rhythm of the alpha thrusting shallowly into him. Jihoon couldn’t help enjoying it because it was so vastly different from the harsh sex they had before. It felt good having Soonyoung so close, hearing gentle praises whispered into his ear. Everything they did today seem to build up a connection between them, Jihoon hadn’t felt that strongly before.

They moved for a long time slowly until Soonyoung suddenly grabbed Jihoon’s cock and let his hand glide smoothly up and down his cock. The younger one squealed loudly at the new pleasure shooting down his spine. He couldn’t remember that Soonyoung had ever got him off like this. It wasn’t necessary because he could come just from getting his prostate stimulated but this felt nice too. It actually felt amazing after not having touched his cock for such a long time.

“Hmm, ahh, it’s g-good, Soon.” 

Soonyoung sped up his strokes and moved as much as possible inside Jihoon. The alpha let out a loud groan and suddenly Jihoon’s whole body began to shake, his cock twitching strongly in Soonyoung’s hold. “You’re gonna come like this, aren’t you honey?” 

As soon as the words left Soonyoung’s lips, Jihoon’s hips twitched uncontrollably and he coated his boyfriend’s hand with his cum. At the same time, he felt Soonyoung filling him up again. He shuddered and wiggled around helplessly at getting filled up that much, lewd noises spilling from his lips. He had no doubt that Soonyoung could impregnate him in just one go because he was coming that much.

Jihoon knitted his brows together at his thoughts while trying to calm down his breathing. He didn’t know where that thought about pregnancy came from, it wasn’t something that had ever crossed his mind. Most probably it was the heavy influence of Soonyoung’s alpha pheromones. Happy with his conclusion, Jihoon pushed the thought away and leaned tiredly against his boyfriend’s shoulder.

Soonyoung let finally go of Jihoon’s cock and instead held his hand right in front of the omega’s face. There was only a small amount of cum on Soonyoung’s hand. Jihoon knew what his boyfriend wanted and simply gave in to his wish. He only had to lick twice over Soonyoung’s hand to get it completely clean of his semen, the alpha purring meanwhile lowly into his ear. “The knot is deflating. I’m gonna pull out.”

Soonyoung rolled Jihoon to his front again and pulled slowly out of him. The omega groaned loudly when the still thick base stretched his hole open wide. Jihoon felt like never moving again, already tired from the three orgasms he had. Soonyoung was moving him around a bit so his ass stuck up high but Jihoon didn’t even have it in him to care about what his boyfriend was doing. Only when he felt the cold plug being set into place, he growled quietly but still didn’t move.

“Are you tired already, honey?” Soonyoung asked him in an amused tone. He rolled the omega around again who tried to glare at him but it didn’t turn out very threatening. “You shouldn’t be. We are far from finished. You asked me how many times I can get it up. I can tell you that you don’t have to worry about that. I can go more rounds than you are probably able to take. Look, I‘m already hard again even though I just knotted you. It’s so easy for me when your pheromones keep on seducing me.”

Jihoon looked at Soonyoung’s cock and saw that the older one was indeed hard again. Just seeing his boyfriend’s hard dick made arousal crawl under his skin again. He licked his lips and sat up when Soonyoung winked him over. “I think you need a break but what will you do to help me, Jihoonie?”

Jihoon’s mind was somewhere between wanting to spit an annoyed comment at Soonyoung and just lunge forward to suck his boyfriend’s dick. Instead, he just sat on the bed waiting for Soonyoung to tell him what to do.

“Come here and suck me off, baby.” While Jihoon crawled over to Soonyoung he felt the alpha’s seed sloshing in his ass and it would have been a lie to say he didn’t like it. He actually loved it and his face was heating up at the thought. This was beginning to get really kinky and it seemed like they were not nearly finished. 

Jihoon moved forwards until his face was right in front of the alpha’s cock. No matter how many times he saw it, he couldn’t get over the sheer size of Soonyoung’s dick. Jihoon lifted a hand and stroked slowly up and down the hard shaft.

“Your mouth, not your hands.”

Jihoon let out a small moan at the command. He really got off on it when Soonyoung talked to him like this. It wasn’t only the fact that it stimulated his omega mind but seeing his boyfriend who was normally only gentle so dominant, was somehow highly erotic. Jihoon’s cock twitched slightly at the thought, already half-hard again. He let go of Soonyoung’s dick and instead gently put his lips around the fat head. He had completely forgotten how difficult it was to blow Soonyoung because his cock was just so thick.

“Take me deeper into your mouth,” Soonyoung told him while gently guiding Jihoon’s head forward. “Deeper, Jihoonie. You’re good at giving head, right? Then take my cock deeper into your small mouth.”

With every word Soonyoung said, Jihoon got more eager to please him. He took more and more of the thick shaft into his mouth until the blunt head nudged at the back of his throat.

“That’s it. You’re really good at this and you also look so beautiful doing it. Move your head, honey. Pleasure me well.”

Jihoon did as told and moved his head slowly, so Soonyoung’s cock slide in and out of his mouth. He grabbed Soonyoung’s legs tightly to be able to move faster, his short fingernails digging hard into the flesh but Soonyoung didn’t complain about it. He just moaned loudly, obviously enjoying getting pleasured from his boyfriend like this.

“I‘m really lucky you’re so good at this. It feels amazing when your throat closes around my cock.“ 

Soonyoung’s hand that had been holding onto the back of Jihoon’s head all the while gently, suddenly gripped his hair tightly forcing the omega to move his head faster. Soonyoung’s hips started moving at the same time and Jihoon had to completely relax his throat to not gag when the older one fucked his mouth aggressively. “Yeah, suck harder…” 

Jihoon swallowed skilfully around Soonyoung’s cock and felt it throb harder in his mouth. He worked feverishly on pleasuring his boyfriend, concentrating completely on the task at hand. He only looked up at Soonyoung when he let out a loud hiss and moan. Jihoon loved the sight that greeted him. Soonyoung’s gaze was strong and heated and he had pushed his hair earlier out of his face making it even sharper as it already was. He was the most amazing sight to Jihoon.

“What a-are you thinking about, honey? Your face is so lustful.”

A moan slipped out of Jihoon’s cock-filled mouth. He shut his eyes tightly because he wasn’t able to handle it otherwise anymore, he was so aroused at this point that he almost couldn’t stand it.

Soonyoung’s cock twitched strongly in his mouth scraping against the back of his throat and for a moment the omega thought he would need to gag but he could somehow hold it back. “I‘m gonna come soon, baby. Do you want to swallow?”

He moaned loudly in response around Soonyoung’s big shaft. Taking that as a yes, the alpha sped up his thrusts until he emptied himself deep in Jihoon’s mouth groaning lowly.

Jihoon swallowed helplessly, the thick cum hitting his throat but just like the first time they did this, he was unable to swallow all of it. Soonyoung’s seed spilled out of his mouth and dripped down the alpha’s cock. He coughed while pulling back and looked up at Soonyoung who looked angrier than he had expected.

“You made a mess. Clean it up,” the alpha said coldly. Jihoon blushed at the words and looked down. Before he could muster up the courage to look back up, Soonyoung grabbed Jihoon’s hair and pulled him forward so his face was right in front of his cock again. “Don’t play shy now Jihoonie. I can smell your pheromones flaring up. This powerplay arouses you so much, doesn’t it? So be the good omega you promised to be and lick the cum off my cock. I know you want to.”

This time Jihoon leaned forward and licked the cum slowly off Soonyoung’s cock until everything was gone. The alpha’s hand that had strongly pulled him before, all the while gently running soothingly through his hair. His vision swam away slightly in arousal and contentment at the whole situation. When Jihoon let Soonyoung’s dick go with a pop, he looked up at his boyfriend again with hazy eyes. The alpha had a greatly satisfied look on his face.

“Now we’ll start all over again, honey. You only came three times, you promised me at least five. But you look like you’re already close to your fourth orgasm. Did it turn you on to suck me off?”

“Yes, so much,” Jihoon answered without hesitation. It wouldn’t even make sense to deny it. Soonyoung had probably smelled the excitement on him either way.

“What exactly about it?”

This time he didn’t answer at once wondering for a moment if Soonyoung wanted to know if he liked what they had done or if the alpha got off on hearing him talk about how good he is. It was probably the second option judging from the mood the alpha was in. “How big and hard your cock was in my mouth and… and…”

“Tell me,” Soonyoung urged him on. Jihoon felt for a second embarrassed but his omega mind pushed that useless emotion fast to the side. If Soonyoung got off on this, why bother feeling embarrassed?

“How you ordered me what to do. How you sweetly talked to me, but then switch to all dominant. How you made me lick the cum off your cock. I loved it all.”

“So you like it when I tell you how good you are, how beautiful and perfect, but you love it too when I get harsh with you and order you around?”

Jihoon gave him a coy smile. It was crystal clear now that Soonyoung enjoyed this. He suddenly wanted to do his part even better. He licked his lips seductively and made his voice softer than it usually was. “Yes, I like it. It makes me so wet when you are very harsh with me.”

“How wet exactly?” Soonyoung’s eyes were eating Jihoon up who was curving his body prettily on the bed up. Jihoon enjoyed the attention, the burning desire in Soonyoung’s brown orbs that was almost making him combust.

“So wet I can’t hold it in. If it wouldn’t be for the plug, I would be dripping for you. I’m so aroused, do you want to see?”

Soonyoung growled at him for the nth time that evening, the sound never failing to make Jihoon even more aroused.

“Show me, honey.”

Jihoon leaned forward onto his left forearm, his ass higher up while he awkwardly reached behind him to pull the plug out. He understood now why they needed two of them. This one was now unusable and they needed the second one when they finished. Soonyoung had planned it all like this from the very beginning. Jihoon wasn’t sure if he should be amazed or afraid of how neatly his boyfriend had planned the sex in his head. Maybe he was a lot kinkier than he had thought up to now.

As soon as the plug was pulled out, slick was gushing out of Jihoon’s stretched hole. Maybe it wasn’t only slick but Soonyoung’s cum was mixed in there too, Jihoon wasn’t so sure. He sensually moved his hips a bit and Soonyoung hands were immediately reaching out for his ass, first kneading the firm flesh softly before pulling it apart. “You’re so wet, baby. You like it when you’re that wet, don’t you?”

“Yes, yes, yes. Just… just do something, Soon. Put it inside.” Jihoon was getting slightly annoyed now because he was itching to get filled. He was so close to orgasm, it wouldn’t even need much to get him over the edge.

“What should I put inside?” Soonyoung was teasing him and Jihoon couldn’t stand it. He was much too desperate, so an overly annoyed answer slipped easily out of his mouth.

“Your fucking big cock!“ 

Soonyoung slapped Jihoon’s ass playfully, not really meaning to hurt the other. “Hmm, I don’t like it when you talk to me like that, honey.”

Jihoon bit his lip liking the slap much more than he had expected but he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he told Soonyoung exactly what he wanted to hear. “Please, put your dick inside. Please fill me up with your big cock. Please, Soon I‘m begging you. I’m so empty, I can’t stand it.”

“Then I’ll better give you what you need, right Jihoonie?” Soonyoung said sweetly and grabbed Jihoon’s hip, drawing lazy circles with his thumb onto the skin. “Can I fuck you like this again?”

Jihoon pushed himself up and shook his head strongly. “Nooo, wanna see you…”

“A pity, it’s such a good position to fuck my cum really deep into you.” Soonyoung carefully rolled Jihoon around and positioned himself over the omega’s smaller body. “But it’s cute that you want to see your boyfriend’s face that much.”

With one swift motion, Soonyoung rammed into Jihoon, the omega arching his back from the bed moaning in pure bliss. Soonyoung had teased him much too long, he already felt like bursting.

“Hmm, baby…” Soonyoung whispered right into his ear, their bodies close to each other while the alpha pushed hard in and out of him right from the very start. “So wet and tight.” 

Soonyoung roughly thrust right into his prostate and Jihoon couldn’t hold back anymore and climaxed a fourth time. The alpha didn’t give him any time to breathe or come down from his high and simply kept on fucking him at the same brutal pace. “Soon… y-young…” Jihoon pulled at his own hair in pleasure and agony. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to scream or to cry or maybe just pass out. Soonyoung seemed to sense it and slowed down considerably. He leaned again more over Jihoon’s body and started sucking at his scent gland in his neck. The omega let out a long moan at the pleasure buzzing in his body when Soonyoung touched that highly sensible point. The overstimulation slowly passed and another orgasm started building up. In his hazy mind, Jihoon wondered if this was only possible because of Soonyoung’s heavy pheromones that were constantly spurring him on. 

“Can you still go, Jihoonie?” The alpha panted out and stopped his movements completely. Jihoon opened his eyes and for the first time this evening, Soonyoung’s eyes were the same gentle as he was used to. His pheromones didn’t flare out as aggressive as they had been doing all the time since Soonyoung had come home. Maybe that’s why Jihoon’s mind was really clear for a moment and the whole situation made him happy and annoyed at the same time which didn’t make any sense. 

“I’m not a wimp,” Jihoon told his boyfriend matter of fact. He was thankful that Soonyoung worried about him but the situation was not the best one for it. No matter how tired and out of his mind he was, Jihoon wanted to continue this, so he moved his hips to signal his boyfriend he should get back to the task. 

Soonyoung just chuckled and sped up his thrusts again making Jihoon arch his back from the bed in pleasure. “But you’re a cutie with a small body, baby. Maybe it’s too much.”

“Already gave up on the alpha act? Didn’t l-last long.” Jihoon told him through gritted teeth. The scent of coffee and mint flared up strongly and Jihoon couldn’t help but move his head to the side to bare his neck to his boyfriend.

“Provoking me again? This time I won’t silently accept that.” Soonyoung bit down hard on Jihoon’s shoulder near his scent gland, while at the same time brutally thrusting into him. 

“I‘m sorry! SORRY! Ahhh!”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Soonyoung probably didn’t want to really hear something but Jihoon’s mind still provided an answer. One sentence that kept on ringing in his head.

“You‘re a great alpha.” Soonyoung’s eyes turned into small slits, his pheromones flaring up once again. Jihoon couldn’t even bare his neck so fast in submission as Soonyoung had already bitten down onto his shoulder again at the same point he had done before. A scream rippled out of Jihoon’s throat because it hurt but on the inside complete peace fell suddenly over him.

He felt strangely close to Soonyoung at that moment, almost like they were connected in some sort of way. His mind was getting completely hazy and he noticed how high pitched and sweet his moans turned. He was gliding into his omega mind but he didn’t fight it because it was exactly what he wanted. Forgetting everything unimportant and only feeling Soonyoung’s heart and soul close to his. 

Jihoon closed his eyes and let his mind completely slip away. Only Soonyoung was filling up his whole existence and it was everything he needed.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung woke up in the middle of the night because he had felt something moving beside him. He opened his eyes and turned to his side to see Jihoon staring at him. Even though it was dark, he could see his boyfriend well enough to notice the slightly dazed look on his face. His heightened alpha senses were really useful in a situation like this. 

“Hey. You’re awake. Are you okay?” He asked into the silence of the room and it seemed a bit like Jihoon fell out of some sort of trance because he flinched slightly.

“I feel… I feel… I can’t describe it. Can you come closer? I need you closer.” 

Soonyoung moved closer and put carefully an arm around Jihoon and waited if he liked it or not. The omega moved even closer until their noses almost touched.

“Was yesterday too much?” Soonyoung asked, a bit nervous about the answer. 

“It was insane. It was so good. I didn’t even know how much I needed that and now I feel completely at peace.” Jihoon blinked a few times, probably trying to see the alpha better in the dark. It was cute and Soonyoung’s heart skipped a beat. The alpha finally allowed himself to relax because he was content beyond belief that Jihoon was happy. He had felt their deep connection yesterday too and that already had been one of the greatest things he had ever experienced but it only made him completely happy when Jihoon felt the same way.

“It’s because everything I did, stimulated your omega mind, and because the deeper we let ourselves fall into our biology, the more we connect with each other.” Soonyoung soothingly ran his fingers in circles over Jihoon’s back making the omega sigh quietly.

“I‘m feeling like I‘m floating in a euphoric place. I can’t believe you wanted to refuse me this.”

“So you didn’t hate it, right?” Soonyoung asked his boyfriend just to be completely sure. Not communicating right had been their problem for the longest time, so for now he felt it would be better to ask about important things more than once to not have any misunderstandings.

“Are you joking? How could I hate such insanely good sex? You made me come six times!”

Soonyoung chuckled at his boyfriend’s sudden outburst. He had seen Jihoon’s mind slip away at one point but it seemed like the omega nevertheless remembered everything they had done. He couldn’t help smiling widely about it.

“I was a bit worried that when you’re not high on pheromones anymore that you would hate that I was so rough with you.”

Jihoon let out a high pitched laugh. “Not, at all. I told you that it’s okay for me to submit if it’s you. You can trust me, you know?” 

“Sorry,” Soonyoung muttered feeling bad for not having trusted his boyfriend.

“Don’t be, I know you just want the best for me but you need to trust me too.”

“I do trust you.” He had been just afraid, too scared that he might end up alone again but he would put that fear forever aside now. Right now he was sure that everything between them was good and nothing could ever change that again.

“Also trust yourself. You’re doing well. You’re a great alpha.” Soonyoung’s heart sped up slightly hearing Jihoon’s words. It made him unbelievably happy because no one ever told him that, of course besides the time when they had sex earlier. But that had been while they were both high on pheromones, so this confession while they were both calm and in their right minds was much more meaningful. He thought life couldn’t get any better until Jihoon added even more.

“You’re my alpha,” Jihoon told him very seriously and it knocked the air out of Soonyoung’s lungs almost unable to breathe anymore.

“Jihoon…” Soonyoung was overflowing with happiness but still, he wanted to tell his boyfriend that he didn’t need to say it right now. That they had all the time in the world to slowly develop their relationship but Jihoon cut him off.

“I’m still learning what it means exactly but I’m slowly getting a picture of it. I thought I wouldn’t be able to say it any time soon but I can feel it in our connection. I can feel that you’re my other half somehow… if that makes any sense.”

Soonyoung froze up hearing Jihoon’s words. His heart was beating like crazy and his alpha mind tried to take over instantly. Soonyoung wiggled away and stumbled out of bed until he hit with his back the wall of the bedroom.

“Soon? Where are you going? Wait! Hey!” Jihoon sat up in bed and started moving to the edge.

“Don’t come too close to me right now.”

“Why?” His boyfriend asked in a worried voice. Meanwhile, Soonyoung tried to take some deep breaths trying to calm himself down.

“I can barely hold myself back from doing what I did to you yesterday all over again. What you just told me… it means so much to me. At the same time, it drives my alpha side insane.”

Jihoon hummed lowly, obviously understanding now what was going on. “I‘m not going to resist you if you want to have me. You can just take me, I’m still stretched well because of the plug.”

Soonyoung banged his head a few times against the wall. Why did his boyfriend need to say things like that all the time? It was insanely difficult to refuse that offer.

“No, no. You‘ll go into heat very soon. We’ll fuck then for days. Right now you have to build up some strength.”

“Alright, I didn’t want to rile you up. Let’s just sleep again. Come here, babe.” Jihoon patted the bed invitingly but Soonyoung was more interested in what his boyfriend had just called him.

“Babe? That’s the first time I’m hearing this. Did the sex melt your brain?” Soonyoung finally walked back to the bed and when he sat down, Jihoon rolled away while glaring at him.

“Shut up.”

“Are you blushing right now? It’s too dark to see.” Soonyoung laid down close to Jihoon and put the blanket over their bodies.

“Sleep, Kwon,” Jihoon muttered and Soonyoung was very sure the younger one was rolling his eyes at him.

“Ouch, that’s cold. I love you too, marshmallow.”

Before Soonyoung could even think about pulling his boyfriend near, Jihoon had already robbed closer and draped himself over the alpha’s body almost like a second blanket. Jihoon gave him a peck on the cheek and placed his head on Soonyoung’s shoulder.

Sometimes a simple gesture was enough to tell you everything that needed to be said. I love you, thank you, and sleep well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) I updated fast hihi. But what can I even say about this chapter that has so few plot lol? Well, it has a plot, which is not very deep but I actually quite like it. The smut scene is truthfully said VERY long. But not as long as the one from Mind Game hahaha. This reminds me that someone once said that my smut scenes are very tiring to read because they are too long. Hmm, could be. But the good thing is that if you don’t like smut scenes, you can skip them :D I believe they need to be part of Code Red because the smut scenes also show their relationship progress but the story works without reading them too. Most stories work without reading the smut. I dunno, smut in fanfics is to me just very normal. I’m reading fanfics for far too long to get embarrassed about it. Also in the end it’s just sex, which is a part of many people’s lives. But sure everyone has to decide if they like it or not. That’s why I’m putting the tags at the beginning of my stories :D No one needs to tire themselves out while reading my overly long smut scenes. Please feel free to skip :) It’s something people should take a lot more serious, don’t read what you don’t like.  
Either way, I tried to make the smut not only aggressively dominant because in the end, Soonyoung is still Soonyoung and even in his alpha mind he still worries about Jihoon and likes being good to him. I hope it all made sense somehow and was nice to read.
> 
> Also in this chapter, it was important for me to show that giving into Jihoon’s omega side and the submissive behavior inside the bedroom was a conscious decision and not just something he had to do because of his biology or because he was forced into this. It was a long process coming to this point and even afterward I always wanted him to have a way out. That’s why Soonyoung is how he is, very slow with everything, trying not to rush him, asking constantly if these things are really okay with him. These two need to work together like this to fit together well. ABO is actually so difficult to write and I probably wasn’t only perfect at everything but I hope Jihoon’s and Soonyoung’s relationship doesn’t seem forced. Because I don’t like it when ABO is purely based on instincts and the omega is doing whatever the alpha says just because of their biology. It’s uncomfortable for me to read. Consent is beautiful <3 I think, I’ll actually never write ABO afterward again. Once was enough and now everyone is writing ABO so there should be stories for every taste :D
> 
> Also if you are wondering why I changed povs at the end… that was an accident XD I actually wanted to put that at the beginning of the next chapter but decided then it would be nicer as the end of this one but my brain obviously couldn’t keep up with it and I ended up writing it in Soonyoung’s pov and not Jihoon’s even though I should have written it from Jihoon’s. I thought about rewriting it but I actually liked it as it was so I just left it like it was. I hope it wasn’t too confusing D:
> 
> The next chapter is one I personally look forward to. It will be packed with lots of different things and one scene I hope I can pull off well. I would be a bit disappointed if it would suck hahaha. But let’s see! I hope I can update next week again but we’ll see :)
> 
> Thank you for reading and thank you for the kudos, bookmarks, and everything. I got many nice and inspiring comments again, here but also on twitter and my cc account. Thank you so so much for these!
> 
> Take care, stay safe and see you soon <3


	41. Only Happy When You Are

Soonyoung was standing in the kitchen humming a happy melody. Not even the buzzing of the fridge they still hadn’t exchanged was bothering him this morning. He couldn’t remember when he had felt the last time so completely content as he did right now. Maybe he couldn’t remember because there never had been a time where he had been that happy. For sure he hadn’t been unhappy all his life. There were times at school and university when he had been fairly happy but it hadn’t been the same happy because he hadn’t been with Jihoon back then. The omega was indeed like his other half that he had been missing all his life and without him, he couldn’t feel complete. And now that everything was sorted out between them, he really couldn’t be any happier. His heart, mind, and biology were in perfect harmony and it was an exhilarating feeling.

While Soonyoung looked into the fridge considering if he should dare to cook something, he suddenly smelt Jihoon’s pheromones getting stronger, which could only mean that the younger must have woken up at this moment. The alpha closed the fridge and looked at the coffee machine. When he saw the last drops of coffee dripping into the pot he let out a small sigh. He was glad he could offer his boyfriend immediately a cup of coffee because Soonyoung expected Jihoon to be slightly grumpy this early in the morning after a night that had been rather exhausting.

“Good morning,” Soonyoung heard the voice of Jihoon coming from the entrance of the kitchen. He looked around at once to see the omega standing there slightly lost.

“Do you want to take a shower first or eat first?” The older asked him while pouring a cup of coffee and putting it on the kitchen table. Jihoon took a shaky step forward limping quite heavily. When he reached the table, he grabbed the cup of coffee hastily like a man close to dying out of thirst and took a sip.

“I wanna eat first,” the omega told him but Soonyoung wasn’t too happy with the answer because Jihoon was obviously in pain and he was smelling strongly like sex and slightly like pre-heat pheromones. It was a mixture that made it difficult for Soonyoung to think straight.

“Maybe you should take a shower first. It would ease the pain a bit and you could also take the plug out.” 

Jihoon made an unhappy noise at Soonyoung’s words. “Don’t wanna take the plug out.”

Soonyoung grabbed the tabletop tightly and breathed once slowly in and out before he answered. “You can’t go with the plug to work.”

“Why not?” Jihoon asked while scrunching his nose and sipping then on the coffee again.

“Jihoonie, you smell like my cum. You’re not going like this to work.”

“Let them know what we did, I don’t care.” The omega shrugged and sat down on one of the chairs. He let out a small sound that was something between a sigh and a moan. Soonyoung didn’t show any reaction to it but it affected him much more than he let on. Neither his character nor his biology was good at ignoring Jihoon. Not the small noises he made and also not the wishes he was stating. Still, going with the plug to work was something Soonyoung couldn’t support.

“Do we really have to argue first thing in the morning?”

“I just want to have your cum inside of me, okay? I can’t explain it but the thought of removing the plug is disturbing.”

The confession was too blunt, even for Jihoon. Of course it a comment that made the alpha inside of him proud but his mind told him that something wasn’t quite right with Jihoon being like that. That’s why Soonyoung walked over to the omega and sniffed close to his scent gland. “You’re gonna stay at home.”

“What??” Jihoon turned around abruptly and looked offendedly and Soonyoung. They both stared at each other for a moment, neither wanting to back down first.

“You’re too close to your heat already. I thought you wouldn’t go so crazily fast into heat this time but it seems to be all the same.”

“But I feel much better than the last time. This is ridiculous. I have work to do!!” The harsh edge on Jihoon’s words wasn’t like it normally was in an annoyed state of mind. No matter what Jihoon said, it wouldn’t tick off Soonyoung normally but this time it did. Soonyoung felt his temper flaring up strongly and for once he didn’t feel like fighting it - not when it was about Jihoon going outside close to his heat.

“Can’t you understand me?? Your scent is so alluring right now and I would hate it if another alpha could smell you like this! No one is allowed to smell you like this beside me!!”

Jihoon suddenly dropped the whole angry act and instead, his pheromones flared up and his eyes turned hazy. Soonyoung felt his anger ebb away when he noticed what was going on. Jihoon was obviously behaving hormonal. He should have guessed the younger one would get extreme like this close to his heat. Jihoon was always a rather moody person, throwing his hormones into the mix seemed to make an explosive combination. He was sure he would need to go through many mood swings of Jihoon until his heat hit.

“I think that’s the first time you‘re actually acting possessive and jealous. That’s so hot,” Jihoon whispered and pulled the alpha close and messily kissed him on the lips. His tongue was hurried, hot, desperate in Soonyoung’s mouth, so much that one could think they’ve hadn’t had sex for weeks instead of just a couple of hours ago. Jihoon’s passion riled the alpha up so much that he was tempted to just let go but when Jihoon’s hands went under his t-shirt touching the warm skin, he sobered up again. Instead of giving in to his instincts that were very much interested in what Jihoon was doing right now, Soonyoung decided to gently push the omega away.

“Hey listen to me, Jihoonie. You don’t seem to be in your right mind already. Do you want me to stay at home too? If you can’t stand the thought of being alone then I‘ll call the office.“

“No, no I’m fine. That wasn’t because of my hormones but just because you’re so sexy and I would like to have sex with you all the time. Sorry.” Jihoon got really red in the face and looked away from Soonyoung. The alpha chuckled at the gesture.

“I didn’t know you could still become shy after everything we did already,” Soonyoung said instead of telling his boyfriend that he behaved hormonal right now. He would figure it out himself sooner or later and discussing this with him didn’t even seem to make any sense at this point. No one liked to hear that they were acting hormonal.

“Shut up, okay? I know, I shouldn’t think about sex the whole time. I don’t want you to think that sex is the only thing I want from you. You know that I love you, right?“

Soonyoung pulled the smaller one close and hugged him tightly. “Of course I know. Don’t worry. I also love you so much. When your heat is over this time, you’ll be much calmer.”

“I actually doubt that. I might just be always a horny bastard,” Jihoon murmured into the alpha’s shirt but Soonyoung still heard him.

“Hmm, I guess I need to teach you a lesson then sometimes.” Jihoon pulled out of the hug, gaping at his boyfriend. Soonyoung broke out into loud laughter at the sight. “Your face is hilarious!”

The shock slowly disappeared from Jihoon’s face and his eyes narrowed slightly. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“Aww, disappointed? Sorry, I’m not into punishment,” Soonyoung told him in an amused voice but was surprised that the sour look on Jihoon’s face didn’t vanish. “Wait, what are we talking here about right now? Do you want to tell me something?”

“Shut it, Soon. Go to work or something.”

Soonyoung cocked his head to the side and considering if he should ignore the comment or not. In the end, he felt like this wasn’t the right time to talk about a difficult topic like kinks and the like. They could do that after Jihoon’s heat. Right now they were both too distracted - Jihoon because of his hormones and Soonyoung because of the large amount of pheromones the omega was producing. 

“Should I really? I feel a bit uncomfortable going after what happened the last time.”

Jihoon’s face softened at Soonyoung’s words. He touched the alpha’s arm reassuringly and gave him a small smile. “I’m really okay. If it wouldn’t be for you and your possessiveness, I would just go to work because I feel that well. And if something happens, I’ll call you. I swear.”

Soonyoung ruffled the younger one’s hair and surprisingly enough he didn’t complain but just leaned closer. “Okay, I trust you.”

Soonyoung didn’t expect the omega to go as fast into heat as the last time and he couldn’t help worrying slightly. Still, there was nothing else he could do than trust his boyfriend in this situation. Going to work now and showing him that he indeed trusted the younger one was just as important as caring about Jihoon. Soonyoung’s alpha side didn’t agree with that but he would need to keep his overbearing attitude in check. When Jihoon would be really close to heat, it would be impossible for him to leave Jihoon alone so better be reasonable as long as he was still in his right mind.

“Go, Soon. I can take care of myself for now. One of us needs to catch the killer.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was noon and Soonyoung felt a headache forming while sitting in his office. He had been looking through files and searching for clues about the killer the whole morning but he couldn’t find anything. The remaining numbers Vernon hadn’t been able to decipher were also still a mystery to him. It seemed like the only thing they knew about the case was the fact that the killer had something to do with Min Jaeho. But that was a very week knowledge when they didn’t even know if it really was a person closely related to Min Jaeho or a copycat. At this point everything was possible and that irked Soonyoung quite a lot. They needed to know where to look for the killer and he could only think about one method to figure that out.

Soonyoung sighed loudly and got up from his chair. He made his way over to the open-plan office where only Wonwoo was sitting at his desk. “Did you find anything?”

The taller officer shook his head. “No. Did you eat anything yet? Vernon and Seokmin are getting some food from the convenience store.”

Soonyoung didn’t feel like eating. They needed to make a breakthrough in this case. He didn’t have a lot of time left and would hate it to leave his team alone without something to work with. They were of course more than capable to continue the investigation by themselves but he couldn’t help feeling slightly desperate to find at least something helpful.

“I don’t have a lot of time left. Jihoon is so close to his heat that I probably have to stay tomorrow or the day after tomorrow at home already. I want to do something useful for this case before going into heat break.”

Wonwoo raised his eyebrows and laid the file he had been holding in his hands all along onto the table. “You already have something in mind, do you?”

“I’ll talk to Min Jaeho,” Soonyoung said, not able to keep the distaste out of his voice. It was the last thing he wanted to do but they had nothing to work with so this really seemed like the last straw.

“Why am I not surprised you want to talk to him on the day Jihoon is not here?” Wonwoo told him with a twinkle in his eyes.

Soonyoung just shrugged and turned away from the taller one to look at the clock on the wall. “I don’t want that killer to look at Jihoon for even one second.”

“Wow, you’re so honest today,” Wonwoo wondered out loud.

Soonyoung turned back to the beta, surprised at the other’s reaction. “My character is honest, you know that too. I have been living too differently for many years from how I really am. I feel like going back to it.”

Wonwoo had a knowing smile on his lips. “Did something happen between you and Jihoon?”

“Yes, love happened,” Soonyoung said and smiled dumbly while thinking about Jihoon and what happened between them yesterday.

“What a sap.”

Soonyoung had to laugh loudly. Wonwoo was right, he really was a sap but he didn’t even feel offended being called one. For Jihoon he gladly was a sap anytime.

Soonyoung took his phone out and looked at the lock screen. He had been checking it regularly in case he might have missed a message of Jihoon but the omega had not contacted him yet. This time too, only the photo of Jihoon he had set as lock screen stared back at him. He had made the photo when they were on their date in the amusement park. Jihoon had complained already countless of times that Soonyoung should change it because not everyone needed to see him wearing a flower headband but Soonyoung had always refused. He was too fond of the memory of that day so the photo made him always a bit happier when he looked at it. He was sure that any other photo of Jihoon could make him happy too but this one was especially nice because of the memories and the bright smile the omega was spotting in the picture. It also was a plus that Jihoon was really cute when he got annoyed every time he saw Soonyoung’s lock screen.

Soonyoung wondered for a moment how Jihoon was doing right now but shoved the thought fast aside because he had told the other he trusted him on calling if something was wrong. That’s why he would keep his word and concentrate on the case until Jihoon needed him. Now, he needed to meet Min Jaeho and see if he could figure out how he was related to the killer.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung looked through the window of the door leading to the room Min Jaeho was waiting in. He had gone through quite a hassle to be able to talk to the prisoner this very day. Normally it took at least one day to get the approval to meet an inmate but Soonyoung knew a lot of people and pulled some strings saying that he had no time to wait until the next day. He couldn’t be sure when Jihoon would go into heat, so better expect to have later no time to talk to Min Jaeho. Said person turned his head around almost like he could hear Soonyoung’s thoughts and looked at the door. The profiler felt his anger flaring up when he saw the killer’s face. He still hadn’t forgotten that the man had tried to kill Jihoon and probably never would. He felt like ripping the other alpha’s throat out for harming his boyfriend but he needed to stay calm. This would be a difficult talk already without his anger interfering. He didn’t expect the killer to tell him something to work with so he would need to find other means to get some information out of him. He had to outsmart him in some way but Soonyoung was confident he could do it. He was a good profiler after all.

Soonyoung finally opened the door and walked with strong steps inside. He sat down on the chair opposite of the table to Min Jaeho and looked coldly at the killer.

“Officer Kwon, what a surprise. I didn’t expect to ever see you again.” The criminal smirked at Soonyoung but the profiler kept a completely straight face. He wouldn’t let the killer get to him. He needed information and for that, he had to stay calm.

“Neither did I ever want to see you again.” Min Jaeho laughed much too happily for someone being since weeks already in prison. It ticked Soonyoung off but he didn’t show that.

“So how are things going with officer Lee? You’re not mated.”

Soonyoung had expected Min Jaeho to ask about Jihoon but he wouldn’t tell him what he wanted to hear. “You were wrong when you said that happiness won’t last.”

“I’m still standing by that statement.”

There was a strange smile on the killer’s lips and Soonyoung wondered what the other was thinking about right now. This seemed to be an important detail and he needed to know more about it.

“I wondered already the last time why you are so sure about that.”

Min Jaeho leaned back in his chair, still smiling mysteriously at the other alpha. “Call it life experience.”

Soonyoung knew the killer was lying. There was certainly more to that statement about happiness. His best guess right now was that Min Jaeho knew that something or someone would destroy Jihoon’s and his happiness one day and that was very worrying.

“I think you have a different reason.” The profiler said slowly and Min Jaeho’s smile began faltering slightly. In the end, he simply shrugged and looked bored around the almost empty room.

“Why are you here, officer Kwon?”

Min Jaeho obviously wanted to change the subject but Soonyoung didn’t feel like letting him off the hook that soon.

“You could tell me that our happiness won’t last because you knew what will happen. You know exactly why I came here.”

“I wouldn’t ask you if I would know.” The tone Min Jaeho used was a bit too harsh to be a natural reaction. Soonyoung was one hundred percent sure at this point that the killer knew why he was here.

“There has been a murder case that has been distinctively similar to your case.”

“So what?” Min Jaeho’s eye was twitching slightly, clearly showing his nervousness.

“You know who the killer is.”

This time Min Jaeho was taking his time answering. He was doing mistake after mistake. He thought he was so very clever when he was in reality no match for Soonyoung’s mind. “How should I know when I’m in prison?”

Soonyoung chuckled lowly. A whole picture was slowly painted in his head. “We have overlooked certain things, haven’t we? You were very careful with your murders but still, we caught you too easily.”

“As far as I remember you took quite a while to catch me.” Min Jaeho tried to sidetrack him again but it wasn’t working on Soonyoung.

“Who did you kill for?” 

Soonyoung had never considered this a possibility while working on Min Jaeho’s case. Everything had made sense at that time, even Min Jaeho’s explanation of why he had killed the omegas. Now Soonyoung was sure they had overseen quite a lot of things while working on the case. They needed to look at it again from a whole different perspective. Min Jaeho wasn’t in this alone. There was a second person and that person was continuing the killing now.

“You know my story, officer Kwon.” Min Jaeho reached up to rub his ear that looked slightly redder than normal. The killer was really good at hiding his emotions but still, he couldn’t control all his natural reactions. This was one of them, as well as the twitching of his eye. He was nervous and he was lying. It was everything Soonyoung needed to know.

“Do I really?” The profiler asked with a slight smirk on his lips. The tables had turned very fast.

“I have nothing to tell you.”

“You already told me enough,” Soonyoung told the killer and got up from the chair. “I’ll be going then. I have a killer to catch.”

Soonyoung turned around and left the room without looking back. He was sure that Min Jaeho knew the murderer. When going after Min Jaeho they had really missed out on seeing the big picture. Soonyoung was slightly angry with himself that he didn’t notice before that some things about the case had been off. They had overlooked some very important things and would need to go now through the whole case one more time. The alpha couldn’t really put a finger on it but he had the feeling he had overlooked an important clue he should have noticed at once. He needed to figure out what it was soon as soon as possible or the murderer would kill again.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After coming back from the prison, Soonyoung had spent more time at the police station going through files and certain scenarios with his team. When it was past 7 PM, he felt a nervousness creeping upon him he couldn’t calm down no matter how hard he tried. He had written Jihoon a message a couple of hours earlier and the younger one had answered that he was fine but that had been everything he had heard all day from the omega. Now he was a point where it was impossible for him to ignore his worries anymore so he told his team about it and finally left work.

On his way home he made a stop at a supermarket and bought an insane amount of food as fast as possible, almost running through the corridors of the shop. He arrived at home around 40 minutes later, probably having driven slightly faster than allowed at times. It wasn’t something he would ever do in his right mind but he just couldn’t help it when he was so nervous and worried.

Soonyoung opened the door to their flat with slightly shaky hands and as soon as he stepped inside, the strong scent of peonies and raspberry slapped him right into the face. The scent was a lot sweeter than it had been in the morning. Soonyoung let the bags with the groceries fall onto the floor, shrugged his shoes off, and hurried to the bedroom where the scent was coming from.

“Hey, I’m back!” Soonyoung shouted while looking around the bedroom but he couldn’t see Jihoon anywhere. His heart started speeding up in worry that something might have happened to his boyfriend. “Jihoonie?”

The head of the omega suddenly peaked up from behind the bed. “You woke me up,” the smaller one said in a sleep drenched voice. Soonyoung let out a deep breath finally seeing that his boyfriend was okay.

“Sorry, marshmallow.” Soonyoung walked around the bed and saw that Jihoon had filled the small space between the bed and the wall with countless of his clothes. When the omega saw him looking at the nest, he sprang up and hurried over to where Soonyoung was standing to push him out of the room.

“Jihoonie, you know that this is nothing to feel embarrassed about, right?” Soonyoung asked the younger one who let go of the alpha and let out a small discontent noise.

“I know, but I can’t help it. I never did this before and it’s just strange. I stole all your clothes…”

Jihoon had indeed taken all the closes from the laundry basket and everything that Soonyoung had worn at least once. Maybe he had even taken some unworn clothes, the alpha wasn’t sure but neither did he care. Jihoon could have taken his whole wardrobe and he would have been fine with it.

“Did it help you to stay calm?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon hesitantly admitted.

Soonyoung knew very well that certain things still felt strange to Jihoon and it was Soonyoung’s responsibility to help the younger one to understand that it all was completely normal. One or two more heats later he would probably not even think about this anymore but be completely comfortable with his urges. Until then Soonyoung would try to help his boyfriend as much as possible. “That’s the only important thing. If it makes you feel comfortable then you should accept it as a good thing. For me, it’s great too because I’m happy when you are happy.”

“You’re such a sap,” Jihoon told him and Soonyoung started laughing loudly at once. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh nothing, you are just the second person who told me this today.” Soonyoung actually couldn’t believe that he heard the same thing twice this day but then again he really couldn’t deny it. He was completely dumb in love and that would never change. It was easy for him to admit that at any time.

“Who was the second one? Let me guess, Wonwoo? What did you say to him?” Jihoon sounded sincerely curious but Soonyoung didn’t feel like telling him what he had said exactly.

“You know Wonwoo too well. But I won’t tell you what we talked about.”

Jihoon raised one eyebrow hearing his boyfriends answer. “Are you having secrets already?”

“The answer would just make you cringe. Believe me.” And that was just the truth. There was only so much of cheesiness Jihoon could take, Soonyoung knew that all too well.

“Yes, probably. Better not tell me then,” Jihoon huffed but he didn’t seem to be angry. The younger pushed some strands of hair out of his face that were sticking to his skin after sleeping and looked longingly at the door. Soonyoung was sure that the omega must be hungry, having probably slept for many hours before.

“I’m gonna put the food I bought into the fridge. Do you wanna tag along?” Jihoon nodded and they both went to pick up the bags lying next to the door and quietly put away the food in the kitchen. The omega’s stomach started growling loudly in the meantime so they both sat down afterward to eat and drink something. As soon as they were finished Jihoon got up and went back into the bedroom like on autopilot. He stopped his step inside the room, probably only noticing then what he was doing. He looked helplessly at Soonyoung, still not able to accept the fact that nesting was a completely normal thing for an omega in pre-heat. 

To make it easier for Jihoon, Soonyoung sat down first in the nest, his back against the wall. He patted his lap encouragingly. “Come here hot stuff.”

“Oh my god don’t call me that!“ Jihoon groaned loudly, not moving away from where he was standing.

“You can go all cute on me while having sex and call me Youngie but I can’t call you hot stuff?“

“It’s a horrible nickname,” the omega complained again but Soonyoung had the feeling it was just for show. Sometimes Jihoon couldn’t help himself and needed to be angry about certain things even though he liked them secretly.

“You‘re pretty red in the face for hating it so much. Hmm, then how about angel eyes? Now come here already.”

Jihoon made an unhappy face but still patted over slowly and lay down with his head on Soonyoung’s lap. The alpha started threading through Jihoon’s hair at once. “Don’t worry I‘ll come up with tons of other nicknames later.”

“That is actually extremely worrying,” Jihoon told him but there was no anger in his voice. As much as he complained, Soonyoung was sure he didn’t mind the nicknames all that much.

They were quiet for a moment before Jihoon spoke again. “Is there any nickname you would like?” Jihoon asked Soonyoung nonchalantly and the alpha thought for a moment that he had heard wrong. Soonyoung had been obviously right about his boyfriend not really hating the nicknames but he didn’t expect the younger one to confirm his suspicion that fast.

“Are you really asking me that now? Did I die and this is the afterlife?”

“Just forget it,” Jihoon murmured and Soonyoung was sure the younger hated himself right now for even asking. He probably wanted his boyfriend to drop the subject at once but Soonyoung wouldn’t let him off the hook that fast.

“Tiger would be nice.” Soonyoung hugged the smaller one tighter and nuzzled his neck a bit before the omega sat up suddenly and looked at him with comically big eyes.

“Are you seriously suggesting that right now?”

“Yes,” Soonyoung told him sincerely and gestured the other to lie down again but Jihoon stubbornly ignored his boyfriend.

“Forget it,” Jihoon told him in a strong voice. Soonyoung couldn’t help grinning widely at the omega.

“Why?? Wasn’t the last night wild enough to prove that…”

Jihoon suddenly pulled a cushion out of nowhere and hit his boyfriend with it on the head. “Don’t think I’ll ever call you that.” 

“But I really like tigers,” Soonyoung whined. 

“Yeah and I really like my work but that doesn’t mean I want you to call me officer.”

The smile on Soonyoung’s face turned into a sly smirk. He knew he shouldn’t tease Jihoon too much because he was being really touchy right now but he couldn’t help it. “Sounds like a kink to me. If you would like to try it...“ 

Jihoon hit Soonyoung again with the cushion on the head. “NO! What the hell? Just no okay?”

Soonyoung chuckled airily and grabbed the omega to pull him down again. Jihoon didn’t protest and took his former position right on top of his boyfriend. “Let’s relax for a bit.”

While they were both quiet, Soonyoung’s thoughts went back to the day before. One thing about the evening had been rather surprising for him and a question slipped out of his mouth without really registering it.

“Will you buy more panties in the future?”

Jihoon gasped loudly and rolled around to sit up once more to look at his boyfriend. His narrowed eyes told Soonyoung at once that he wasn’t happy with his question. “Shut up, don’t ask me about it!”

“Would it bother you if I‘ll buy you some?” Now that the topic was out in the open, Soonyoung couldn’t really help himself asking. Jihoon wearing panties had been insanely hot to him. “Maybe even some garter straps? Black would look so nice on your pale skin, but light blue would be also very pretty, or red…”

“Stop it,” Jihoon interrupted him while avoiding meeting the alpha’s eyes.

Soonyoung immediately got a bad coincidence and thought he had gone too far with what he had said. “Sorry, I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“You don’t make me feel uncomfortable. You make me horny. I feel like running to the next underwear shop just to satisfy you.”

Soonyoung felt like laughing out loud but it was hardly the time for that. “So I can buy you the underwear I like?” He asked instead and Jihoon finally turned back to him and met his eyes.

“Yes, I‘ll wear whatever you want me to.”

Soonyoung couldn’t help grinning widely. He pulled Jihoon closer again and the omega rolled onto his back once more so Soonyoung could take him into his arms.

“Hmm, you smell so good,” the alpha said absentmindedly. Jihoon’s scent slowly got overpowering while his body was preparing to go into heat. Soonyoung always loved the enticing scent of peonies and raspberry but right now it was even more alluring than it normally was. Which of course wasn’t surprising because an omega was producing this scent especially to lure in alphas. Though Soonyoung wanted to believe that Jihoon’s scent was prettier than the pheromones of any other omega.

“Does it turn you on?” Jihoon suddenly asked, interrupting Soonyoung’s trail of thought completely. Jihoon’s pheromones were flaring out and the alpha pressed with his calming scent immediately against it.

“Stop it Jihoon. Just relax now, you‘ll need all your energy when you go into heat.” Soonyoung felt like a broken record telling his boyfriend the same thing again and again but it was simply the truth. A heat was crazily exhausting for the body. Jihoon didn’t know because he never experienced it while not being feral but Soonyoung knew it all too well.

“You were the one who started all of this with talking about underwear.”

“I know, sorry.” Soonyoung took one of Jihoon’s hands in his and caressed the slim fingers gently in an attempt to calm him down but it didn’t seem to work. Jihoon was still squirming around, producing far too many pheromones.

“Maybe we could have just a quickie?” Jihoon rubbed his ass suggestively against Soonyoung’s crotch while letting his head fall onto the alpha’s shoulder.

“Put your head a bit to the side.” Jihoon did as told and Soonyoung leaned forward to rub his cheek slowly against the younger ones. The profiler knew he wouldn’t get out of this situation if he wouldn’t calm down Jihoon immediately and scenting seemed to be the best choice right now. It would relax the omega very fast.

“Are you scenting me??” Jihoon asked him slightly surprised probably not understanding immediately why Soonyoung was scenting him right now.

“Yeah, you’re too worked up. You need to relax.”

“I’m not worked up but horny.” 

“All the same,” murmured Soonyoung while still thoroughly scenting the omega. Jihoon slowly went completely lax in his hold, all tension falling off of him and his pheromones calming down too.

They sat like this quietly for a long while until Jihoon fell out of the trance he had been in. “Did you figure something out at work?”

“No, nothing.”

Jihoon made a discontent noise and grabbed Soonyoung’s hand that had been playing with his fingers all the while suddenly very tightly. “It’s not good that I have to stay at home. The timing of my heat is horrible.”

“Don’t worry about missing out on work. This is more important. You are more important.” Soonyoung grabbed Jihoon’s chin and pulled his head slightly around so he could look the younger one in the eye. “I always chose you over work.”

Jihoon turned his head around again and laid it back onto Soonyoung’s shoulder. “Me too.” He mumbled so lowly that it was almost impossible to hear the words.

“What did you just say? I think I didn’t hear you clearly.” Soonyoung couldn’t keep the amusement but also the fondness out of his voice. Shy Jihoon would always be just too cute for him too handle.

Jihoon turned around and told him in a very harsh voice “Me too you dumbass!!” but kissed him right after lovingly. Soonyoung thought at that moment that it was impossible for him to put it into words how much he loved Jihoon. Even saying that he loved him to the moon and back wasn’t enough. There simply were no words to express his feelings for the younger.

Jihoon looked for a while at the alpha, surprising the older once more with a sudden mood change. “Soon, I never told you but you’re so beautiful.”

“Is that so?” Soonyoung cocked his head to the side while thinking a moment about it. He had never considered himself as the beautiful type of guy. Jihoon for sure was very beautiful but he couldn’t see that word fitting for himself. Nevertheless, getting such a nice compliment from his boyfriend made him very happy.

“Yes, I think you could have been an omega because you‘re so beautiful.” Jihoon reached forward and pushed a strand of hair out of Soonyoung’s eyes.

The profiler hummed lowly at the comment. “And you could have been easily an alpha.”

“Yeah, I know. I expected myself to become one too. I never understood why I became an omega but now I do. If I wouldn’t have become an omega I couldn’t have been with you.” The younger one turned around once more and leaned back into the embrace of his boyfriend. Soonyoung thought meanwhile about Jihoon’s words. Sitting here like this together with the one he loved so much, he couldn’t imagine it ever being any other way. Even if Jihoon wouldn’t have been born an omega, he would still like to be with him.

“You know that’s not true, right?”

“Hmm, you mean because you wanted to date me as a beta too?”

“Yes,” Soonyoung said carefully. It was still a bit difficult topic for him because he had reacted very harshly on Jihoon taking the suppressants again some months ago. Thinking back on it, it would have been nice if he would have handled the break up better but it hadn’t been possible for him back then.

“I know. I know you didn’t break up with me just because I took the suppressants again. It was a lot more complicated than this.”

Soonyoung let out a deep breath hearing Jihoon say this. “I always knew you were the right person for me.”

“So if I would like to take the suppressants again…?”

Soonyoung felt like suffocating for a moment. Everything in his body was struggling against the thought of Jihoon taking the suppressants again. He felt a wave of nausea coming over him and he had to take a deep breath to push it away. It wasn’t a possibility he had thought of. Not after Jihoon seemingly being one with his biology now. He was a bit at a loss for words. “Well, I… I would need some time to accept it. If you really want to take them again I should…”

“Stop, Soon. That was an unfair question. I‘m not gonna take the suppressants again. They don’t make me happy. This makes me happy. Being myself and lying in your arms.”

“It makes me happy too.” 

They both fell silent after that exchange, just enjoying the other’s closeness. Soonyoung could sense that Jihoon was close to falling asleep but tried to keep himself awake.

“Let’s sleep, Jihoonie,” he told the younger one who yawned loudly before answering.

“Here? Right now? You haven’t even changed your clothes.”

It was a valid objection. Sleeping in the clothes you had worn all day wasn’t all that nice. Especially not in your work clothes.

“Should I take them off right now?”

Jihoon cleared his throat loudly hearing Soonyoung’s suggestion “Don’t tempt me.”

“Alright, I’ll go and change my clothes, turn the lights off, and then we can sleep.”

“Here?” Jihoon asked slightly unbelieving. Soonyoung on the other hand didn’t think it was a big deal sleeping on the floor if Jihoon would feel better there. All the clothes Jihoon had put there made it bearable to sleep on the floor.

“Here or on the bed. Whatever you feel more comfortable with.”

Jihoon looked to the bed and then back to the nest and back to the bed again. “It doesn’t matter as long as you are there,” Jihoon told him completely seriously.

Soonyoung was sure they could both soon start writing a book with cheesy lines to say to your partner in a relationship. He wondered for a moment if something like that could be a bestseller.

“And you call me a sap.”

They both grinned at each other before Soonyoung got up to go and change his clothes. Jihoon didn’t move away from the nest and he knew immediately that they would spend the night there.

Soonyoung hummed happily while getting a clean t-shirt out of the wardrobe. He got rid of his clothes and went back to where Jihoon was still sitting unmoving in the nest waiting for him. He offered Jihoon the shirt he had been wearing and the omega looked slightly annoyed at it before snatching it fast out of Soonyoung’s hand to stuff it into a corner he deemed suitable. The alpha felt his heart melting at the sight and turned around fast before the younger one could spot the dumb smile on his face.

He had the feeling he could sleep very well this night.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung woke up the next morning when the alarm went off at half-past six. Jihoon didn’t even stir while being deeply asleep, so he rolled out of bed as quietly as possible and went into the bathroom to take a shower. Sometime last night they both changed from lying in Jihoon’s nest on the floor to the bed because the omega had sleep drunkenly complained how uncomfortable he was. Soonyoung had kind of expected Jihoon to wake up again later to change back into the nest but the younger one stayed fast asleep the rest of the night.

Soonyoung took a shower fast and afterward put some clothes for work on. He was just fixing some food in the kitchen for Jihoon when he smelled the omega’s pheromones flaring up. The younger one must have woken up wondering where Soonyoung was. He couldn’t sense the omega moving, so the alpha sprinted back into the bedroom where he found an irritated and unhappy Jihoon sitting in the bed. His eyes were only half open and it was obvious he wasn’t feeling all that well.

“Good morning. Is something wrong? How are you feeling?”

“Dizzy,” Jihoon crooked out. Soonyoung reached out and touched the omega’s forehead noticing that he was slightly hotter than normal. 

“Should I get you some water? Actually, I’m really late for work already…” 

“Don’t go. I can’t… stay alone.” Jihoon sounded slightly embarrassed telling his boyfriend. Soonyoung immediately got closer to the omega and took him into his arms. He should have known that the younger one was already too close to his heat to stay alone. 

“Of course, I‘ll stay here then. I get you some water and call Wonwoo shortly, okay?” Soonyoung pulled back and saw that Jihoon was shaking slightly. His eyes were glassy and he looked close to tears. It broke Soonyoung’s heart into little pieces. Jihoon seemed to be completely taken over by his hormones right now. The fact that he couldn’t even stand being apart from Soonyoung for a couple of minutes showed that very clearly.

“Cupcake, it will only take a very short time. Here have my shirt.” Soonyoung took his shirt off and offered it to Jihoon who snatched it at once, snuggling his face into it. A fond smile crept up on the alpha’s face seeing Jihoon like this. “I‘ll be back before you know it.”

Soonyoung grabbed his phone from the bedside table and hurried into the kitchen. He got a glass of water which he put onto the counter and called Wonwoo who luckily picked up after just two rings. He explained the other that he couldn’t come to work because of Jihoon’s heat and gave him some instructions on how to handle the case in the days he was gone. After he hung up, he almost ran back into the bedroom, spilling some water on the way there.

Jihoon was lying in an embryo-like position on the bed, hugging Soonyoung’s shirt tightly. He opened his eyes when the alpha was close looking up at him through lidded eyes. Soonyoung sat down on the bed and Jihoon shot up at once to hug him tightly.

“Can I put my shirt back on?” The alpha asked and chuckled lowly.

“No,” Jihoon mumbled into his chest and hugged him even tighter breathing in the other’s scent deeply. Soonyoung let him be for a while and gently stroked Jihoon’s back with one hand and played with the short hair in the omega’s nape with the other. Only when Jihoon’s pheromones had calmed down completely he pulled away and grabbed his shirt that laid forgotten on the bed to put it on again.

“What do you wanna do? Watch a movie?”

“No,” Jihoon said once more not looking happy at all that the alpha had pulled away from him. Soonyoung had a feeling that he would have a difficult day ahead of him with Jihoon being completely controlled by his hormones. 

“Black Panther?”

“Yes,” the younger one finally agreed. Soonyoung knew that Jihoon was obsessed with that movie and he would use it to his advantage whenever he would need it.

“Okay, let’s watch it while we eat something. You need to eat and drink enough. You must be starving, aren’t you?” 

“No…,” Jihoon mumbled unhappily.

Soonyoung felt like sighing but instead smiled at the omega widely. “Come!” He told him but Jihoon didn’t move at all. “Should I carry you?”

The question had been more a bit of a joke so it surprised Soonyoung when the omega nodded shyly.

“How come you’re suddenly so cute, marshmallow?” Soonyoung asked his boyfriend and Jihoon’s expression did a 180 and turned really angry. 

“I don’t fucking care! Can you carry me or not?” He barked loudly and Soonyoung was taken aback for a short moment. He hadn’t expected Jihoon’s mood to change that fast but he certainly should have known it could happen. He had to be strong now and not take any of the omega’s comments to heart because it was just his hormones making Jihoon moody, nothing else.

“Alright, come here.” Soonyoung got up from the bed and picked the smaller one up who clung to him at once like a koala. The alpha carried his boyfriend into their living room and when he arrived at the couch, Jihoon started struggling like crazy.

“Let me down!” The younger one told him harshly.

“Yes, master,“ Soonyoung said cooly while letting Jihoon sit down on the couch. 

The omega looked up giving his boyfriend a sharp look. “I‘ll wring your neck if you don’t shut up.”

Soonyoung held in the comment he wanted to make because he knew that Jihoon wouldn’t appreciate his humor right now. Better not make the situation unnecessarily complicated for him.

The silence seemed to calm down Jihoon a bit and he started looking around instead of giving Soonyoung the stinky eye. “Where is the food?” He asked slightly irritated and Soonyoung immediately sprinted into the kitchen. He felt more like a servant right now than like Jihoon’s boyfriend but it didn’t bother him all too much. Jihoon’s happiness was his highest priority and if he had to go through all of this to make the other happy so be it.

Soonyoung picked up a couple of things he thought Jihoon might like and bought them back into the living room. He put everything onto the table and the younger one started inspecting the food at once. Instead of his mood lightening up, his face turned even more sour when he had finished going through the food.

“I want something sweet,” he told Soonyoung while sulking. The alpha turned around and went back into the kitchen to get some fruits. When he placed them in front of Jihoon, he could see the omega’s eye twitching slightly in anger.

“Fuck off with the vitamin shit. I need chocolate or something like that.”

Soonyoung wanted to tell Jihoon that he didn’t even like chocolate but kept his mouth shut and went once more back into the kitchen. It seemed like even Jihoon’s taste changed while being in pre-heat. Soonyoung felt lucky that he had bought chocolate a few days ago because he had been stressed out himself. While Soonyoung loved eating sweet things as snacks, Jihoon normally preferred chips or salty popcorn.

The alpha got all the chocolate he could find in the kitchen and brought them back into the living room. Jihoon ripped them out of his hands at once and devoured them in world record time. Afterward, he started going through all the other food on the table and Soonyoung switched the TV on in the meantime and started playing Black Panther. Only then he sat down next to Jihoon and grabbed something to eat himself. 

After a while, Jihoon put a half-eaten sandwich onto the table and leaned back to watch the movie. Soonyoung cleaned away all the food, happy that Jihoon seemed to be content for now. 

The content state of Jihoon only lasted another 15 minutes into the movie because at that point Jihoon suddenly lost all his focus and was watching Soonyoung instead. The omega’s pheromones were starting to lure him in and Soonyoung knew he was in trouble. It was insane to him how fast Jihoon’s mood was changing the whole time. Now that he knew the omega was behaving like this before his heat, he would need to be better prepared before the next one. He would need to make a plan to keep his boyfriend occupied when being that moody.

While being deep in thought, Jihoon suddenly shifted closer and started pushing Soonyoung back until he lay on the couch. He crawled onto the alpha and pushed slowly his shirt up touching the warm skin. Soonyoung reached out to grab Jihoon’s hands but the younger one swatted them away immediately.

“No don’t! Just let me touch you.” 

Soonyoung just lay still and let his boyfriend touch his body whatever way he wanted. This was actually very typical behavior right before the heat for an omega. They needed close contact and liked to touch their alpha but in certain situations, they didn’t like to be touched in return. Soonyoung let out a deep breath and closed his eyes trying to keep his own hormones under control. He didn’t want to get aroused in this situation but it was difficult when Jihoon was caressing him so thoroughly.

The alpha suddenly took a sharp intake of breath when one of Jihoon’s hands started fondling his cock through his underwear. This time he grabbed the omega’s hand stopping him effectively. “Let me,” Jihoon whined and Soonyoung was at a loss for what to do in this situation.

Lucky for Soonyoung, Jihoon’s alarm was suddenly blasting loudly from his phone that was still lying in the bedroom. It was the reminder that Jihoon had to take the omega pill. He pushed Jihoon gently off of him and went first to the bedroom to turn the alarm off and then he took the package of pills that lay on the bedside table and took it together with the glass of water that Jihoon had never touched earlier back into the living room. He placed the glass onto the table and handed one of the pills to Jihoon who took it with a strangely irritated look on his face.

“Jihoon you need to take the pill.”

The omega just stared at it for a while, his scent had shifted again and Soonyoung knew exactly what was happening right now. He sat down close to Jihoon and held the hand with the pill in his.

“Take it, marshmallow. Come, I’ll help you.” When Soonyoung lifted Jihoon’s hand with the pill in it up close to his face, the omega closed his mouth tightly shaking is head in distress. “Jihoon, you don’t want a child. This is just your hormones acting up and you know it. You have to take the pill.”

Jihoon suddenly started crying and Soonyoung lifted him up to let the younger sit on his lap. He pried the pill out of Jihoon’s fingers and let the younger one cling to him. “I don’t want to take it.” 

“I know, honey. But only because you are so close to your heat. If you don’t want to take it one day anymore we’ll talk about it but today you need to take the pill. You need to take it, sweety.” 

Jihoon wailed loudly, Soonyoung’s shirt getting slightly damp because his boyfriend was crying so much against his chest. Now even Soonyoung’s resolve was cracking slightly. He knew he needed to do this because Jihoon would never forgive him if he would get pregnant but he couldn’t deny that the situation was difficult for him too. He only wanted the best for Jihoon and he hated seeing the omega in so much in distress. It was even more difficult with Jihoon being so close to his heat, producing already these overly sweet pheromones that were messing with Soonyoung’s head. Deep inside his alpha was telling him to just forget about the pill and get the omega pregnant but Soonyoung was too headstrong to listen to such an animalistic wish. He would only have a child with Jihoon if he wanted it and Soonyoung was very sure the younger one was far away from wanting children. He even assumed that the omega never would want to have children and if that was Jihoon’s wish, he would accept it.

“Jihoonie,” Soonyoung said while pushing the younger one slightly back to look at him. He raised his hand with the pill in it to Jihoon’s mouth, holding it between two fingers. “Take the pill.”

Jihoon sobbed again but opened his mouth this time. Soonyoung put it in and watched the omega swallow it. He handed Jihoon the glass with water but the younger had started crying in the meantime again.

“I’m sorry. Sorry. I’m so sorry…” Jihoon muttered and cried into Soonyoung’s chest while shaking like a leaf.

“Jihoonie, you don’t have to be sorry. I’m not angry with you. You’re a good omega. You don’t have to feel bad, marshmallow. Please, it’s breaking my heart.” Normally Soonyoung would never tell Jihoon that he was a good omega because it’s reducing the younger one too much on his biology but he knew that it was the one thing the other needed to hear right now. His omega side was too strong at the moment and would only understand words like these.

“I’m useless if I can’t give you children,” Jihoon sobbed and Soonyoung took the younger one gently into his arms. He didn’t struggle against the hold but instead snuggled closer.

“That’s not true. You’re so, so dear to me Jihoonie. You make me so happy, please don’t be sad. I’ll be sad then too. Okay?” Jihoon nodded his head. “Are you tired? Do you want to sleep a bit?”

“Nest,” Jihoon told him quietly and Soonyoung picked him up at once to carry him back into the bedroom.

“Yeah, come let’s sleep in the nest.”

As soon as Soonyoung put Jihoon down into the nest, the omega hurriedly assembled the clothes anew and pulled one of Soonyoung’s hoodies close to hug it tightly while lying down. The alpha only then laid down as well in the small space and hugged the smaller one from behind because Jihoon was lying on his side facing the bed.

“I love you,” Jihoon told him tiredly. 

Soonyoung placed a small kiss on the smaller one’s neck, all tension falling off of him now that Jihoon seemed to be calmer again. It might be a simple mindset but he really could only be happy when Jihoon was happy too. That probably would never change all his life. “I love you too, marshmallow.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung woke up when he felt a heavy weight on him. He forced his eyes open and saw Jihoon sitting on top of him. The omega’s face was tinted red and his breathing slightly faster than normal. His pupils were blown wide not really focused.

“Alpha,” he whined while reaching for Soonyoung’s face but pulled back at once. The older one sat up, his instincts kicking in strongly. Arousal was buzzing under his skin and the need to take care of the omega was overwhelming. Jihoon already was in heat and looking at his behavior, Soonyoung was quite sure the other went feral.

“Jihoonie are you still with me?” Soonyoung asked his boyfriend but the smaller one’s eyes remained unfocused.

“Alpha please I‘m so empty,” the omega told him in an overly sweet voice. The noises he let out afterward were nothing else than highly arousing and Soonyoung felt his cock throbbing strongly in his underwear.

The alpha had wished that this wouldn’t happen again but deep down he knew it was inevitable with how fast Jihoon had been going into heat again. “I know, baby. I‘ll help you. Even if you don’t know who I am right now, I’ll take good care of you.”

Soonyoung finally touched Jihoon and the younger one immediately surged forward and clung to his boyfriend. He had been obviously holding back to touch the alpha first because of his omega instincts but all restriction had now broken in him. He begged continuously for Soonyoung to finally take him because he was in so much pain, tugging at the older one’s clothes uselessly.

“I love you so much Jihoonie,” Soonyoung told him gently while getting up to lift Jihoon onto the bed. The nest wasn’t good for spending the heat and Jihoon wouldn’t care about it now either way that his heat had started. Jihoon was still clinging to him all the while making small noises that were somewhere between a whimper and a moan. Soonyoung’s mind was clouding now up fast. Jihoon’s behavior and his overly sweet scent made it impossible for him to stay completely sane but it was okay because he could trust his instincts in this situation. He could trust his biology to help him satisfying Jihoon’s omega needs perfectly, especially after they had sorted out everything in their relationship, also on a biological level, before Jihoon’s heat had hit. There were no worries left that he would hurt the omega or make him uncomfortable in any way.

“Please alpha, I’ll be good for you,” Jihoon lured him in sweetly while putting his head to the side baring his neck. A shiver went through Soonyoung’s body and the need to bite and mate that overcame him almost knocked all sense out of him. But this was not the right time for it. He wanted Jihoon to look at him and know who he was when he would mate him. He wanted the other to tell him how much he wanted to be his mate. Until Jihoon was ready, he would wait for him. For now, he would simply give him what his biology really needed to get through the heat. 

“I know, honey. You’re the best.” Soonyoung leaned down to kiss Jihoon and the omega purred into the kiss. The overly sweet scent of peonies and raspberry got suddenly so strong that all thoughts left Soonyoung’s mind. He could feel his biology taking over, not fighting against it at all. 

“I’ll give you everything you need, omega.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) I’m back after 5 million years. Truthfully said, I thought about dropping Code Red in the last couple of weeks. There was so much going on that was stressing me out and I really disliked writing this story but I’m okay right now. I think I’ll finish Code Red now slowly at my own pace. I’m still planning to start Queen Sacrifice on the 1st of August and will just post how I feel :D
> 
> This chapter was… wow, so cheesy at times haha. Maybe it was a bit too much but I felt like showing a lot of their relationship here. Also just the very small things, the normal scenes in a relationship. Well, if you can call an alpha-omega relationship normal lol. I don’t know how well this chapter worked out. I‘m not happy with Code Red at the moment yadda yadda bla bla bla. No one wants to hear my complaining XD So yeah if the chapter was somehow nice to read, all is well.
> 
> So the ending… does it count as a cliffhanger? Smut cliffhanger? LOL. Either way, the next chapter will be from Jihoon’s pov again. I think it will be pretty long. But what is new about that? Lately, my chapters are always pretty long…
> 
> Thank you like always for the support. Especially thank you to the ones who always tell me to not give up on this story. I need to hear that at times, I guess. Really thank you so much, I’m always glad to hear that some of you still enjoy this story.
> 
> In celebration of Seventeen’s (insanely good) comeback, I’ll do something I wanted to do already for a while: I’ll do a giveaway for my readers :D I’ll give away one unsealed version of Henggarae of your choice + HMV special photocard. To enter the giveaway, you have to comment under the post for Code Red chapter 41 on my [Twitter account](https://twitter.com/just_a_pinwheel)  
until the 28th of June, which will be pinned at the very top. I‘ll count every comment with a YELLOW HEART somewhere in the comment, besides that the comment can be really anything. I’ll announce the winner on my Twitter on the 28th of June. Please be ready to give me your name and address. CD will be shipped around a week later from Japan. Worldwide shipping is okay (though Japan still doesn’t ship to some countries because of covid. If that’s the case for you, we’ll talk it through) and shipping will be of course paid by me! (please notice that if you have your Twitter account set on private mode and I don’t follow you, that I won’t be able to see your comment and can’t include you in the GA. But you can write me a DM and I’ll follow your account if you like :D) Good luck!
> 
> So this is that. I hope you like this little surprise. I just want to give something back to you who are always cheering me on with your nice comments :D If you like this, I might do this more often. I like doing giveaways but I don’t like people following me on Twitter just out of that reason, so I thought doing it like this would be quite nice :)
> 
> Have a nice week and stay healthy! See you soon <3


	42. Heat Haze

Jihoon woke up and the first thing he felt was an insane heat. His skin was burning and he instantly threw the bed covers off his body but it didn’t change a thing. He still felt like suffocating. An insatiable need was crawling under his skin and he direly wanted the void he felt to go get filled. 

“Jihoonie?” The omega heard a gentle voice coming from his left side but he couldn’t really place it. Who was it? His mind was just too hazy to remember a name. Jihoon slowly moved his head to the side and saw a beautiful alpha lying beside him watching him intently. The memory of Soonyoung only returned bit by bit to him because his body seemed to crave an alpha more at the moment than a boyfriend.

“Soon,” he crooked out, his voice much whinier than he intended to.

Soonyoung immediately sat up hearing his name. “You’re back to your senses?”

Jihoon almost couldn’t concentrate on Soonyoung’s voice. His body was just so hot. He wriggled naked on the bed and felt slick gushing out of his hole. He groaned loudly at the feeling. He was empty, much too empty. “What’s going on?”

“You went into heat and were feral but it seems like you’re back to your senses fast.” 

Even to Jihoon’s hazed up mind, it made sense he was in heat. He tried hard to concentrate and figure out what Soonyoung had meant with regaining his senses fast and it took him so long that he almost wanted to give up. Just when he opened his eyes again after letting them fall shut to concentrate better he remembered the possibility of him going feral because of the suppressants he had taken.

“How long...?” He asked Soonyoung, not able to form a coherent complete sentence.

Soonyoung smiled at him sweetly and it made something stir deep inside of Jihoon. “Just one day.” 

The happiness of not blacking out his whole heat only lasted a couple of seconds. The itch to get filled just kept on getting stronger and it was almost unbearable. This wasn’t comparable to what Jihoon had felt outside of his heat. This was a thousand times worse. “Empty. Please it’s too much. Please, please.”

Soonyoung leaned over Jihoon’s body and pushed a sweaty streak of hair out of his face. “Shhh, I‘m here, okay? I‘ll give you what you need.” Jihoon wanted to complain that he wasn’t giving it fast enough to him, but he couldn’t get the words out. Only strange sounds were leaving his mouth he had never heard from himself before - high-pitched and desperate small moans that probably should spurn on his alpha. Jihoon couldn’t find the strength in him to mind them as long as they would help him get what he needed so very much.

Soonyoung gently pulled Jihoon’s legs apart and the omega opened them even wider out of reflex. “Look at you. So beautiful, Jihoonie.” Jihoon felt two of Soonyoung’s fingers slipping into his hole. There was no resistance at all and Jihoon could easily guess that it was the result of having sex many times already. Slick was gushing out of his hole when Soonyoung scissored his fingers widely and it ran down his ass but Jihoon barely noticed it. He was much too frustrated that he still felt too empty. Two fingers were not cutting it out at all. Soonyoung kept on pushing onto his prostate but it didn’t give him the satisfaction it normally provided. He needed Soonyoung’s dick inside of him. Right now. 

“More! More! Ahhh…” There was a third finger penetrating Jihoon now but it just wasn’t enough. He was so frustrated that tears were welling up in his eyes. “Please…”

Soonyoung pulled his fingers out and kissed Jihoon shortly once. “Sorry, no games. I‘ll fuck you now.” The alpha pushed his dick into Jihoon with one swift move and it made the omega cry out in pure bliss. This was the feeling he needed. Nothing could compare to being filled and split open by his alphas thick shaft. 

“Alpha, more.” The words slipped out of his mouth without a second thought. Soonyoung immediately sped up his thrusts and Jihoon finally felt more content. The heat became more bearable and pleasure completely overtook him. 

“You’re so hot and wet Jihoonie. You feel perfect.” Jihoon moaned lowly at the alphas words, but Soonyoung didn’t seem content with that. He thrust once especially hard into Jihoon making the omega cry out. “You’re suddenly much too quiet, let me hear that this is what you want.” Jihoon moaned loudly hearing what Soonyoung said. If that was what the other wanted then he would do it. He would do everything for him. And more importantly, he would do everything to not lose the pleasure stimulating his body and mind, making him feel alive.

“This is ahhh, so good. I‘m close. Soon, AHHHH” Jihoon let out an especially long and loud moan at the end and he felt the big shaft of the alpha twitch inside of him. It drove him even closer to the edge. “More, more alpha…”

Jihoon started shaking and he knew he would come any second. Soonyoung grabbed one of his legs and pressed it to the side so he could penetrate him from a slightly different angle. That angle allowed Soonyoung to push even harder against the omegas prostate and Jihoon finally lost it. He came with a loud shout his body twitching strongly on the bed, but it gave Jihoon barely any satisfaction. He still felt the itch and was still hard too. Lucky for him that his alphas stamina was as great as ever. He just kept on pushing into him in a harsh rhythm, not seemingly bothered by Jihoon tightening on his cock hard. Soonyoung leaned close over him and moaned right into his ear. It was highly arousing and Jihoon was already close to a second orgasm. He felt tears pricking at his eyes because he was so high on emotions. 

“Don’t ahhh stop. Don’t…” Jihoon couldn’t finish the sentence because Soonyoung started sucking at his neck and his second orgasm crashed down on the omega like a storm. “AHHHH!!!” 

This orgasm was even stronger than the first one, the blending pleasure not stopping for over a minute. His hole kept on twitching and tightening around the alpha’s cock that never stopped stimulating him. He couldn’t remember ever feeling like this. 

Jihoon panted hard while coming down from his high. He finally felt a bit sated but there was still something missing. It was like there was a void inside of him and he wasn’t able to calm down until it was filled. The small, erotic moans from earlier started falling off his lips again and Soonyoung groaned loudly over him hearing the little sounds. “You don’t know how sexy you look right now. The look on your face is so erotic.” Soonyoung rolled his hips in a way that made the omega keen loudly. Even though Jihoon had already cum two times, the alpha was still moving hard into him without having come once. But Jihoon could feel how the alphas hips were staggering slightly now, which told him that the other was close to orgasm.

“Knot me,” Jihoon purred, knowing very well that this was what he was still missing. He needed to get knotted and filled right now. Soonyoung kept on pushing against his prostate and he probably would get hard very soon again but instead of going another round, he just wanted to feel the alphas knot inside of him.

“No, not now Jihoonie. You have neither eaten or drunken anything since your heat started. First, you need to eat or you‘ll pass out. No knot now.”

Jihoon whined loudly into the alphas ear. “Just once. Afterward, we can eat.”

Soonyoung gave Jihoon an angry look and pushed in a more aggressive rhythm into the small body under him. “No discussion!”

Jihoon finally got hard again and he thrashed around on the bed at the overly harsh rhythm the alpha used. “Soonyoung, Soonyoung…” His moans got gradually louder again mixing with the loud moans the alpha was letting out at this point. “Knot me Soon, come ooon. I need ahh, need it. Can’t you do it?”

The older one’s eyes narrowed hearing Jihoon’s words. “Don’t taunt me while I’m in control. You won’t be able to make me snap at this point.”

Jihoon wondered for a moment why his boyfriend had said that he wouldn’t be able to make him snap at this point. Did he snap the day before? He wished he could remember that because as hard as the older was going right now and as dominant he had been before with him, he still hadn’t really snapped up to now. 

All thoughts about Soonyoung snapping were flying out of his head when his boyfriend started going even faster, hammering right into his sweet spot. The pace was borderline brutal moving Jihoon’s body back and forth on the bed that was screeching under the force of their lovemaking. “Alphaaa!!”

“That’s right honey, just take what I give you. Gonna make you feel so good.”

Soonyoung’s voice was raspy and deep and drove Jihoon right over the edge. The omega gripped the sheets strongly when his orgasm crashed down on him, a high-pitched scream leaving his pink lips. Two, three more thrusts later and Soonyoung came too filling Jihoon deeply with his seed. The omega gasped at the sheer amount of cum spurting into him. He felt a calmness washing over him at the feeling. He still wanted to get knotted but this was already nice. He purred contently when Soonyoung pulled out, cum leaking heavily out of his ass. He tried to tighten up but noticed he wasn’t able to do it. He made a sour face in frustration because he hated the thought of losing all of Soonyoung’s cum but there was nothing he could about it.

Jihoon sighed and moved his head around to look at Soonyoung who was staring right back at him, a small smile playing on his lips. The omega was in awe that Soonyoung fucked him in one go through three orgasms. His stamina already seemed to be crazy before but now it was even extremer. If the alpha wouldn’t be so hellbent on making him eat and drink something, he probably could have gone on even longer. Jihoon couldn’t help feeling very lucky having an alpha who could satisfy him so well.

“First let’s take a shower,” Soonyoung told him and Jihoon was still too blissed out to complain. He let the alpha carry him to the shower where he cleaned both of them off fast. Afterward, Soonyoung put a big, fluffy towel around Jihoon and pulled hastily some underwear on. He carried the smaller one into the kitchen and sat him on a chair. Jihoon hazily watched the alpha fix some food and drinks and put them all on the table in front of him.

“I’m gonna change the sheets. It won’t take long. Just wait a moment, okay Jihoonie? You can eat and drink something in the meantime.” Soonyoung leaned down to give Jihoon a small kiss onto the forehead and ran out of the kitchen. Jihoon wondered for a moment how the older one could still have so much energy after all the sex but the thought drifted into nothingness fast. Instead, Jihoon’s mind went back to dreaming about getting knotted. He still wanted it so much.

The small police officer only woke up from his daydreaming when Soonyoung sat down on a chair facing him. “You didn’t eat or drink anything.” The alpha picked up a glass with water and held it up to Jihoon. “Drink this Jihoonie.” 

The omega stubbornly shook his head. He didn’t feel like drinking or eating, it wasn’t necessary for him at the moment. He only wanted Soonyoung and nothing else.

Soonyoung didn’t seem to share the same sentiment because his pheromones were flaring up slightly angrily. “Drink this! I mean it. You haven’t eaten or drunken anything since the day before yesterday! No more sex until you listen to me.”

Jihoon’s hand shot up out of reflex to take the glass but he pulled it back again just as fast. He was overwhelmed by the situation, not knowing what was the right thing to do.

“Do not think I like commanding you like this. I know that you can only think about sex right now. But you need to stay hydrated. Come on Jihoonie. When you have eaten and drunk something, you’ll feel better. It will help you with the heat haze.” Jihoon felt tears welling up in his eyes. There were two sides fighting inside of him. One wanted to refuse because food was meaningless to him right now and the other wanted to satisfy Soonyoung. He was so confused that he didn’t know what to do.

“Honey, please. Do it for me. It won’t take much time.” Soonyoung’s voice was a lot more gentle now, probably because he couldn’t stand seeing the omega cry. Finally, the need to fulfill his alpha’s wish got too strong to refuse it and he took the glass of water and downed it in one go. Some juice and food followed after until the omega felt too full to go on anymore. While eating, Jihoon had kept on glancing at Soonyoung, and deep down he was sure that the fondness in the alpha’s eyes made him fuller than the food did but he chose to not tell the other. He would just get scolded for not thinking of his own body and health.

“Aren’t you feeling better now? Your body must have been completely drained.”

Jihoon knitted his brows together while considering Soonyoung’s question. He felt indeed better than before. Not only his body but also his mind felt somehow refreshed. “Yes, I feel like I can concentrate now a bit better too.”

“Enjoy it as long as it lasts, the next heat-wave will probably hit soon. It’s still early in your heat so the breaks in between are rather short.”

Jihoon started nervously scratching at the tabletop. The distance between the alpha and him started making him slightly anxious. Soonyoung seemed to sense it because he got up from his seat and walked around the table. Jihoon found himself only a few seconds later sitting on the alpha’s lap, staring right into the older one’s eyes. He leaned forward to kiss his boyfriend who willingly opened his mouth for him. They kissed lazily until Jihoon pulled back a bit and shamelessly stuck out his tongue. Soonyoung gave him a small smirk before leaning forward to suck at the omegas tongue. Jihoon loved it when is boyfriend did that. It never failed to rile him up and while he had never voiced that out loud, he was pretty sure the alpha knew it. They kept on kissing slowly until they run completely out of breath. Jihoon laid his head on Soonyoung’s shoulder deeply inhaling the other’s scent of coffee and mint. “You smell so good. Even better than you normally do.”

He still remembered the very first time he had smelled Soonyoung’s scent. The strong reaction it triggered making him almost lose his mind. Even if he could deal now easier with being around Soonyoung’s pheromones, smelling them was still exciting, arousing but also calming at the same time. It would forever remain his favorite scent.

“Hmm, you too. Your scent is so very sweet, not sickly sweet but alluringly sweet. Your scent is pulling me in, arousing me so much. It makes me want to fuck you without ever stopping.”

“I‘m not gonna hold you back. I can take whatever you give me.” Soonyoung ignored Jihoon’s comment and started kissing along the smaller one’s neck, stopping at his scent gland to slowly licked over it. Jihoon shuddered strongly, his fingertips digging deep into Soonyoung’s shoulder. An unusual thought crossed his mind and he couldn’t help voicing it out loud at once. “Soonyoung why did we even take a shower when we’ll have sex again soon?”

Soonyoung stopped kissing Jihoon’s neck and pulled back to look at the omega. The small smirk back on his lips. “Because I can make you then dirty and sweaty again. Fill you once more with my cum.” Jihoon’s mouth fell open at the revelation, not having expected such a filthy answer.

“It’s an alpha thing,” his boyfriend added and Jihoon put it onto a list in his head with things he had to ask Soonyoung later about again. There were still so many things he didn’t know about Soonyoung or only knew bits of it. There was still so much to learn and figure out but that was also the beauty in a relatively new relationship. Slowly learning everything about the partner was exhilarating but sharing everything about yourself was just as great. Maybe it was time to share one thing with Soonyoung that he had never told him before.

“Did you know that when I first smelled you as omega, I almost lost my mind? No alpha’s scent interested me in the slightest, but when I came into your office, your scent almost drove me into immediate submission. And I think it was even worse the second time when I went to your flat to ask you about the case. I wanted you to fuck me on the kitchen counter.”

The gentle smile on Soonyoung’s face didn’t falter but his pheromones flared up excitedly. “I could smell how aroused you were. I almost couldn’t hold myself back. Especially because I loved your scent from the very first moment I smelled you too.”

Jihoon liked Soonyoung’s confession far too much. It made the memories from back then much more bearable. At that time he was fighting so much against his omega biology, even fighting the thought he liked Soonyoung. This made it a bit easier for him to think back to the days he had behaved oh so foolishly.

He opened his eyes again that had fallen shut for a short moment. When he saw his boyfriend watching him intently with a heavy gaze, his arousal was skyrocketing again. He wanted him. He always wanted him all the time. “Fuck me on the kitchen counter.”

Soonyoung chuckled lowly when he heard the request. “Let‘s go back to bed. It’s better to spend your heat there. I‘m gonna fuck you on the kitchen counter another time.”

“If that’s what you want alpha,” Jihoon said slightly disappointed but still got off Soonyoung’s lap while clutching the towel around his body tightly and stumbled in the direction of their bedroom. Now that he was walking for the first time after getting out of bed he noticed how much his whole body ached, even his legs were shaking slightly. He should be worried about what condition his body would be in after another couple of days in heat but he didn’t feel any dread at all. On the contrary, he wanted Soonyoung to wreck him much more. The insatiable need was crawling under his skin, slowly turning into a bright fire again. 

When he arrived in the bedroom, he let the towel fall to the floor and positioned himself on all fours on the bed. Soonyoung on the other hand was standing unmoving in the room just looking at the omega. Jihoon curved his spine to push up his ass even more, small whimpers falling off his lips in desperation to get touched by the alpha. Even more, he needed to get knotted at last. If Soonyoung would refuse him that again, he would go insane. 

“Don’t you hate doing it in this position?” Soonyoung asked him and finally joined Jihoon on the bed.

“If my alpha likes it like this then I‘m willing to do it. I‘ll do anything you want alpha. Just please knot me.” There was a low growl coming from Soonyoung and he possessively held onto Jihoon’s hips but still didn’t give the omega what he wanted. Jihoon lowered his upper body onto the bed and put his head onto his arm. Very slowly he moved his head around to give Soonyoung the most seductive look he could muster up.

“I can’t take it any more alpha. Please. Please.” The sweetness of his voice was ringing in his ears. He let his mouth hang open slightly while looking Soonyoung straight into the eyes thinking about all the things he wanted the other to do to him, hoping he would understand.

The result was rather sobering because Soonyoung didn’t snap and fuck him like he hoped he would but instead started talking. “Why do you keep on calling me alpha when you haven’t lost your senses?”

Jihoon groaned loudly in discontentment and closed his eyes trying to come up with an answer. It was starting to get difficult to concentrate again, his mind already halfway back in the heat haze. “Because you are my alpha and it feels right at this moment. Do you hate it?”

“No, of course not. How could I?” Soonyoung took Jihoon by the hips and pulled him a bit closer. “How could I ever hate anything my omega does?”

Jihoon let out a loud moan. The words were triggering an explosion of feelings inside of him. Love, acceptance, need, want, want, want… “Say it again.” He needed to hear Soonyoung say it again. He hadn’t known how much he needed it until hearing it. It was perfect and right and everything Jihoon needed.

“My omega. You are my omega, only mine.”

Jihoon felt faint hearing the possessively spoken words of his boyfriend. The need to get filled again was suddenly back at full power. His mind was a mess and his body burnt up more strongly. “Inside. Hurry, please.”

Soonyoung put a hand on Jihoon’s ass and kneaded one cheek gently. “Your ass is a piece of art, honey.” Jihoon didn’t say anything but only made an impatient noise which made the alpha pull Jihoon’s asscheeks with both hands apart. Slick gushed immediately out of his loose opening running down his ass and legs. “You’re leaking so much slick. It makes me want to eat you out.”

“No, no! Please I want your knot!” Just the thought of waiting even longer to feel the cock of Soonyoung inside of him drove him to tears. He couldn’t comprehend how the alpha got an idea like that in the current situation. It felt like torture to him.

“I‘ve never eaten you out though. Wouldn’t you like it if…”

Jihoon cut his boyfriend off at once. “NO!!!” 

“Alright, another time then baby.” Soonyoung gave Jihoon’s ass a playful slap before thrusting his cock with force into the tight heat. Jihoon let out a strangled moan at the sudden penetration. Soonyoung wasn’t out to play this time and rammed hard into Jihoon’s small body from the very start. The omega’s eyes rolled back in his head and lewd sounds spilled from his lips. The squishing noises their fucking was producing was resounding beautifully in his ears even though it was nothing more than a loud and obscene sound. At this moment, getting fucked like this was the most beautiful thing in the world to Jihoon and there was no space for anything else in his head. The heat had completely taken over once more.

“Hmm, ahh, I love your cock. So big. So much, ahh, so much better than any other cock,” Jihoon moaned out, spurring Soonyoung on to thrust even deeper into his willing body.

“Yeah, I know it’s the thing you love about me the most at the moment.”

At the back of Jihoon’s mind, something urged him to deny what Soonyoung had just told him but it only felt like a faint wave in the middle of a storm. He was much too aroused, much too needy to deny what was very obviously the truth. Jihoon bit his lip strongly when Soonyoung’s cock grazed his prostate especially hard and all thoughts were leaving his head instantly. The haziness in Jihoon’s mind got gradually stronger and he could feel his omega side taking over. He couldn’t fight it but he also didn’t feel the need to do so because he would still be himself. He would still feel Soonyoung inside of him, kissing him and he would still see the love in the other’s gaze, just his mind wouldn’t actively participate anymore. It was like riding on a wave, letting happen whatever was coming his way. It wasn’t a scary or threatening feeling, it was completely natural and exhilarating.

Jihoon let go, simply acting on instinct. When he got completely back to his senses, he was panting heavily lying on top of Soonyoung, the alpha’s knot locking their bodies tightly together. Even though his mind had cleared up considerably, his body was in a neverending overdrive. 

“I still feel so hot,” he complained while wiggling around on top of Soonyoung trying to find a more comfortable position. 

“You’re in heat that’s normal. I‘ll be here with you the whole time. I take care of you Jihoonie.”

Jihoon felt contentment wash over him when Soonyoung told him that he would take care of him. He remembered hating that feeling so much some month ago but now he couldn’t understand why. Why had he hated the thought of someone caring for him that much when it was the most normal thing in a relationship? Soonyoung took care of him when he needed it but he took care of the alpha as well when the other required it.

“Try to calm down and sleep for a bit,” Soonyoung told him after being quiet for a while. The alpha started stroking his back gently, drawing lazy circles on the heated skin. It was supposed to be a soothing gesture but it only riled up Jihoon at the moment.

“Nooo, another round.” Jihoon could feel the knot already deflating slightly and the restless feeling of earlier came slowly back. He probably should sleep to regain some energy but there was no way he could calm down right now.

“I guess you won’t take a no as an answer. Your pheromones are still suffocating me.”

Soonyoung touched Jihoon’s forehead trying to figure out how badly the heat was affecting the younger one. He didn’t say anything but sighed quietly while pulling slowly out of Jihoon. The omega whimpered at the feeling of suddenly being empty again. It was unbearable but the worst thing of all was the fact that his alpha seemed more interested in a break than in having sex immediately again. Jihoon had to do something to change his mind. There was one unspoken request, one wish that was completely wrong but felt all to right at the moment. It kept on surfacing in his mind but up to now, he kept it inside. Maybe it was finally time to voice it out loud.

“Breed me alpha.”

Soonyoung’s eyes widened hearing Jihoon’s request. The surprise didn’t last long because seconds later his eyes narrowed dangerously and his pheromones flared up more strongly than they had done through the whole day.

“Yeah, we’re definitely not gonna take a break. You couldn’t stop me now even if you wanted to. Prepare yourself omega.”

Jihoon felt contentment settle deep in the pit of his stomach seeing the alpha smiling smugly at him. He would finally get what he wanted, probably for hours to no end thanks to one small sentence. He gained precious information.

“I’m always ready for you alpha.” 

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon woke up to a loud noise. He put his hands over his ears not able to stand the sound. 

“Make it stop! Make it stop! STOP!” The omega rolled around in bed, his head hurting like crazy. If the noise wouldn’t stop immediately, he would go insane.

After what felt like an eternity to the omega, the loud sound stopped and Jihoon felt his tense body going slack. He took his hands from his ears and suddenly a strong pair of arms pulled him close. Long fingers wiped away the tears that were spilling from his eyes he hadn’t noticed before.

“Sorry, Jihoonie. It was the alarm for work. I wouldn’t have turned it on if I knew you were that sensitive right now”

Jihoon opened his eyes but his vision was swimming. Even though only a small amount of light was spilling through curtains into the room, it was too bright. He wanted to go back to sleep but his head was hurting so much now. Jihoon tried to remember what happened and why he felt like this but his memory was only returning slowly. 

He went through his heat. The first one he remembered. His head was suddenly filled with a thousand memories of having sex with Soonyoung in all possible positions. He didn’t even know how long his heat had lasted but it certainly felt like forever. He could faintly remember that his heat had already ended the day before but he had been too tired to get up. Soonyoung had made him eat and drink something in bed but besides that, his memory was wiped clean of the day before. 

“I’m so tired. Why am I still so tired? My heat is over and I slept the whole day yesterday,” the omega asked slowly, every word was difficult to say.

“Your heat had been very long with seven days and you’re still not used to the heats. It was easier on your body when you were running completely on instinct but this time your mind fought a lot of the things that were happening. It’s not only exhausting for your body but also your mind. You don’t have to worry, it’s only the first one or two times like this. Your heats will gradually get shorter now. Maybe they’ll only last for four days at one point and you’ll recover then much faster from it.”

All the information was difficult for Jihoon to take in. He tried to roll to his side so Soonyoung’s and his embrace would be less awkward but he was too tired to do it. The alpha seemed to sense that the younger one wasn’t completely comfortable and helped him roll around, so Jihoon was lying half on top of him. The omega snuggled his head in the crook of his boyfriend’s neck, almost drifting back to sleep when a dreadful thought shot through his head. He had to go back to work.

“I need to go to work. We didn’t go for eight days.” Jihoon felt tense and restless suddenly. He tried to push himself up from the position on top of Soonyoung but the alpha didn’t let him. He had his arms wrapped tightly around his back and Jihoon wasn’t able to move one bit or maybe he was physically just not able to do it at the moment. 

“You can’t go to work like this, you’ll faint from exhaustion. You should slowly start to get up today and eat and drink a lot. Tomorrow you’ll be better again. I promise.”

Jihoon didn’t like it. They had been away for such a long time and their team was doing all the work alone. If he couldn’t go to work, Soonyoung should at least go. He was the team leader after all.

“You should go then, Soon.”

There was a low growl coming from Soonyoung and Jihoon winced because he hadn’t expected such a strong reaction. “No, I’m refusing. Not this time. I need to stay here with you. We’ll go tomorrow together.”

Jihoon wanted to talk back for a second but the contentment of knowing that his partner would stay with him the whole day was too big to complain. He couldn’t even imagine getting up himself right now so Soonyoung staying with him was the logical consequence. He finally relaxed in his boyfriend's hold again.

“I’m glad,” he whispered and his hazy mind slowly drifted back to sleep. He could feel Soonyoung hugging him tighter and the warmth he felt was peaceful and calming, nothing like the unbearable fire that was going through his body while being in heat.

“You’re so pretty, Jihoonie,” Soonyoung purred and gave him a small kiss on the top of the head. “Sleep well.”

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon felt slightly lost when he woke up. He sensed Soonyoung close by so he opened his eyes tiredly. He got greeted by the sight of his boyfriend standing in their bedroom only clad in trousers drying off his wet hair with a towel. Normally the sight of the naked torso of Soonyoung would be enough to turn him on but it seemed like the long heat had sated him so well that he didn’t feel any arousal stirring up inside of him. Instead, he wondered if Soonyoung had changed slightly. He couldn’t put a finger on it but something seemed to be different. Since he couldn’t make out what it was Jihoon decided that he was just imagining things.

“Are you feeling better today?” The alpha asked in a chipper voice. Jihoon sat up and checked if the tiredness was bearable or not. To his surprise, he didn’t feel like going back to sleep immediately. His body was still not in good condition but he could live again somehow.

“Yeah, I think I can go to work today.”

Soonyoung looked skeptical and him and then brought the damp towel into the bathroom. Only when he came back he started talking again. “Jihoonie, if you still feel bad…”

Jihoon jumped out of bed at once trying to show the other that he was well enough to get up by himself. “No, I’m fine! Don’t take this away from me! I need to go to work. I don’t feel bad about taking this time off because you explained to me why it took so long to recover but now I want to go to work. You are certainly more important than my work but that doesn’t mean that my work isn’t important to me at all! We left the team alone with a difficult case. We need to get back to it.”

Soonyoung nodded and showed him a brilliant smile. “Alright, then let’s get ready marshmallow or we’ll be late.”

Jihoon could still feel the tiredness in every muscle but at least he wasn’t too sore to walk. The last two days of his heat had been not as intensive as the first five and that’s why his level of soreness was bearable - or his body has gotten used to having the alpha inside of him, he wasn’t all to sure but what he was sure of was the fact that the heat had taken away all his energy. Even though he had told Soonyoung that he was okay and wanted to go to work no matter what, he couldn’t deny that he was tired and every single step was a hassle. He would try to hide that as best as possible to worry Soonyoung not too much. From the way the profiler kept on glancing at him, he was keeping a close eye on him, probably because he couldn’t shake off his overbearing alpha attitude. It was nice that his boyfriend cared so much for his well being but being tired and sore was something he could deal with for the sake of his work. Also, the physical tiredness would go away soon.

The thing was, even though his body felt like a truck had run him over, his mind felt more awake than ever. His omega side seemed to be completely sated and content and it was almost like it was fast asleep now. Jihoon wondered if it would be now always like this. He handled his biology already well before his heat but now it seemed all too easy. It was a very refreshing feeling.

Jihoon looked over at Soonyoung who watched him curiously, probably wondering why he was lost so deep in thought. The fondness was showing in the alpha’s eyes and Jihoon felt lovestruck. The omega had to smile dumbly when he noticed that no matter the circumstances, if his omega side was coming strongly to the surface or if it was almost asleep like right now, he loved Soonyoung always the same. It had nothing to do with his biology but it was all his heart - not that he had ever doubted that but it was nice to confirm it again while not being influenced by his biology.

“Why are you smiling so much?” Soonyoung asked him but Jihoon just shook his head while another thought crossed his mind. No, he didn’t love the alpha all the same. He loved him every day a bit more.

Jihoon had to gag slightly at his cheesiness. He walked a bit faster, so he wouldn’t see Soonyoung anymore, hoping that the need to tell him a thousand oaths of love would die down without seeing the alpha. It only helped partly because he could still smell Soonyoung’s calming scent of coffee and mint very strongly. Instead of being annoyed that there was no way for him to escape his boyfriend he felt dumbly happy he could sense the alpha close by like this. Maybe he was just doomed to be lovestruck forever - it was the best catastrophe that ever happened to him.

*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soonyoung was the one to rush first into their open-plan office in the police station. “Good morning! We are back!” He told his three team members who were all already sitting at their desks. It seemed like they came in early which worried Jihoon slightly. Always when they came early to work, they were stressing over a case.

Even though something bad must have happened, Wonwoo looked up with a friendly smile from the papers he was reading. “Someone seems to be in a good mood.”

“I have no reason to be in a bad mood,” Soonyoung told the beta while grinning widely. Jihoon almost wanted to scold his boyfriend for making it so obvious how much he had loved spending the heat with his partner but in the end, he just laughed it off. There probably was no point in hiding how happy they were together, at least not in front of their colleagues who were also their good friends.

“So what did we miss while we were gone?” Jihoon asked into the room, sincerely curious what had happened with the case.

“There was another murder yesterday,” Wonwoo answered him and Jihoon could easily see the frustration in his friend’s eyes and his posture. As Wonwoo’s best friend, Jihoon knew how to read the other but normally it still wasn’t that easy. Wonwoo had to be very annoyed when he was reacting that strongly.

“It was the same killer?” Jihoon asked but already knew the answer. 

“Seems like it,” Seokmin said while he got some photos out of a folder and laid them on the table in front of Jihoon and Soonyoung. 

Soonyoung picked one of them up and looked closely at it. “Too similar for just being a coincidence.”

Jihoon’s interest was spiked too, so he ripped the photo out of Soonyoung’s hand and sat down in his chair. The victim had the same wounds as the omega who had been killed before. This was the doing of the same person, there was no doubt about it.

“We have no clue who the killer could be. He worked too clean. This is like the Min Jaeho case all over again,” Seokmin continued. “The victim this time is an omega too and again had been mated. The killer seems to keep his profile but we still don’t know what the link is between the two victims.”

Of course, they couldn’t know yet when the omega had been only murdered yesterday. There is only so much the forensic science could do in a day, they probably didn’t even have the belonging of the omega ready. Once more they had to start all over again but this time they needed to find something. There had to be a link between the two victims and that would be the key to finding the killer.

“Did you check like instructed Min Jaeho’s surroundings again? The killer and Min Jaeho must know each other.”

Soonyoung’s words were strange to Jihoon. Had he missed something? According to his current knowledge, they only were speculating that the two criminals knew each other.

“Wait, how are you so sure of that?”

Soonyoung shrugged but didn’t look away from Jihoon. “I talked to Min Jaeho.”

“When did you… Ha! This is unbelievable! You talked to Min Jaeho while I was at home! You told me to stay at home and then went to talk to Min Jaeho without me!” Jihoon walked up to Soonyoung until he stood right in front of the alpha. He could barely hold himself back from snarling at his boyfriend in anger.

“It needed to be done at that point.” 

Jihoon couldn’t see any regret in Soonyoung’s gaze and it ticked him off even more. But this wasn’t the time to discuss that the alpha most probably went to see Min Jaeho once again alone to protect Jihoon. This was work and there were more important things to do right now than fight because of Jihoon’s hurt pride.

“I’ll accept that for now. We’ll talk about that later again though, okay?”

Wonwoo cleared his throat loudly, completely ignoring that Jihoon was waiting for an answer of Soonyoung. “Of course we checked Min Jaeho’s surroundings again. Whoever the killer is, he must have met Min Jaeho secretly because no matter how much we searched we couldn’t figure anything out. Min Jaeho always was a lone wolf, no friends, no family. We could only ask the workers in his company and business partners but there was no result.”

“So we have still nothing?”

“I wouldn’t say nothing. Another letter arrived this morning.” Wonwoo pointed at his table and Jihoon sprung up from his seat and walked around to pick it up. It was again addressed to Soonyoung. It made Jihoon’s blood boil. 

He ripped the envelope open and got the piece of paper out. Once again there were countless of red numbers put onto the letter.

060606 9363 8291 4353 5373 3241 7332 8122 3243 6241 8142 2181 7453 6391 2

“These numbers are annoying!! Why can’t the killer just put letters there? Min Jaeho didn’t do that shit too.” Jihoon stomped over to Vernon and laid the letter in front of the younger officer knowing well that he was the only one who could decipher the numbers fast.

Vernon looked over the letter, his eyes shaking slightly while trying to decipher the code. Everyone was watching the youngest one of the team in fascination besides Wonwoo who looked annoyed at the photos on the table. “But doesn’t that mean the killer is even more dangerous than Min Jaeho? It’s like he wants to show off that he’s the more intelligent one.”

Jihoon hadn’t thought about it like this before but Wonwoo was right. It really seemed like the killer wanted to show off. Maybe he had been the one to pull the strings all along when Min Jaeho was killing people. When Soonyoung was so sure that they knew each other then the possibility seemed very high that this killer was the actual brain between the two.

“I figured it out,” Vernon suddenly interrupted the silence in the room. “It says: You’ll regret being that slow.”

Jihoon laughed loudly hearing what the numbers on the letter meant. “He’s a complete psycho! I’m gonna get that fucker and rip him apart.”

Wowoo rolled his eyes at him but Jihoon only shrugged cooly. Jihoon was so done with the games of the killer at this point that his eye was twitching in anger. Regret? The killer would regret what he had done when he was sitting in prison for his whole life.

“Jihoon? Are you listening?” Wonwoo asked him and the omega had to admit that he indeed hadn’t heard what his friend had said before so he shortly shook his head. “I said that we still haven’t told you that we figured out what the first numbers on the letter meant,” Wonwoo repeated and Jihoon immediately felt like screaming at his best friend. Why not tell them about that first? It was good news that they figured the meaning of the numbers out.

“What’s the meaning? They are different in the second letter though...”

“We think 12:12 was the time of death. And the second victim was killed exactly 12 days after the first victim,” Vernon explained slowly and Jihoon’s heart dropped more with every word he heard. This wasn’t good news at all. Jihoon looked again at the first numbers of the new letter - 060606.

“That means, the next person will die in 6 days at 6:06?” Jihoon asked unbelievingly. Soonyoung gritted his teeth in anger beside him which was very unusual for the alpha at work and his other team members looked quite frustrated too. Jihoon felt a slight pang of regret that they couldn’t help their team in the last days with the case but he shoved that thought fast aside. Even though the heat had tired out his body completely, it had been an incredible experience and he would never choose to pass it up. It was one more thing that brought them closer together as a couple and it was the best feeling in the world.

“Yes, probably. If we don’t find the killer in six days, he will murder again,” Vernon answered him. Jihoon’s mood did a 180 and anger flared up in him. He hit with his fist hard on the table not caring that he hurt his hand in the progress. Soonyoung’s pheromones were flaring up slightly and Jihoon calmed down at once. The alpha probably didn’t like seeing his boyfriend hurting himself unnecessarily, especially not while being still in a slightly overbearing mood after Jihoon’s heat.

The omega avoided his boyfriend’s heavy gave and looked instead at Vernon again. “And the last number?”

The younger one shook his head and instead, Seokmin piped up. “Seeing the new letter gives me an idea. It’s just a hunch but doesn’t it look like a countdown? 3, 2,..?”

A dreadful feeling came over Jihoon. That didn’t sound like something good. “What will happen when the countdown is over?”

“I have a feeling that we don’t want to find out,” Soonyoung finally said in a strong voice making all heads turn around to him. Jihoon had thought in the morning that he was just imagining things but now he was very sure that Soonyoung’s attitude had changed slightly. His aura was stronger, more overpowering. Simply said, he was more like an alpha. Jihoon wondered if it had something to do with Soonyoung being more accepting of all aspects of his alpha biology, even the very dominant ones. Jihoon for his part wasn’t complaining because his boyfriend was very attractive like that.

“It’s an awful thing to say but a second victim is making it easier to get a lead in the case now. Let’s hurry up and check the similarities between the two omegas and especially let’s find out where the killer found his victims. We only have six days until the murderer will kill again.”

While everyone got busy at once, Jihoon sat unmoving on his chair. He was still slightly dazed by Soonyoung’s powerful attitude but even more worried because of the letters. If Seokmin was right and the numbers on the letters were indeed a countdown, something big would happen after he killed one more person. They had to prevent that under all circumstances. They needed to save the next target’s life and jeopardize the killer’s plan.

Jihoon looked over at Soonyoung who was talking quietly to Wonwoo about something. He wouldn’t let the criminal lay a finger on his alpha or his friends. He would close this case as soon as possible.

He would make sure of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii :) I’m back! And this time also quite fast. Unfortunately not with my most interesting chapter HAHA. Hmm, I dunno, I just have no real opinion on this. I can’t say if it’s good or bad or just plain boring. I first thought it was horrible and after I edited it I thought it was okish. It’s a chapter many people anticipate in an abo story. The heat! But I don’t know if it’s all that interesting because there already was a lot of smut in this story so this might have been not as surprising and grand. Especially because heat smut it pretty primal. I wanted first to make it more exciting but it would take away from the simpleness of the act in their slightly primal state of mind. Still, I hope it was somehow entertaining to read :)
> 
> We slowly get now back into the case and things don’t look well D: There isn’t so much of Code Red left so lots of things will happen from now on and we’ll soon see who the killer is and what he is planning. It’s exciting! Or horrifying XD 
> 
> I think I have nothing more to say right now. I wanna thank you for all the nice comments on the last chapter. The sheer amount might have had something to do with the giveaway but it still made me happy :) Thank you so much. Every comment is a blessing. So is everyone who is reading and enjoying this story. Giving Code Red a lot of kudos and bookmarks that might be more than I deserve. Still, it makes me very happy that I can share my story with many people who enjoy reading it :D
> 
> Take care and stay safe! See you soon <3


	43. The Mistake

After the second murder and the second letter, two days went by and the plot was thickening. Still, they still had no clue who the killer was. The victim had been once again a happily mated omega. He left behind an alpha who had needed to go to the physical ward of a hospital because he couldn’t cope after finding the body of his cruelly killed mate in their shared flat. 

Soonyoung had talked to the victim’s parents, but once again, they didn’t know who the killer could have been. There had been no sign of stalking and the parents didn’t know of someone who held a grudge against the victim. As the next step, Soonyoung’s team had searched for a connection between the two victims, but their efforts had been in vain again. They had no lead, and in four days, the murderer would kill again. Soonyoung didn’t know if they would be able to make it in time.

A loud knock on the door was interrupting the alpha’s train of thoughts. He leaned back tiredly in his chair, not having slept a lot the last two days. “Come inside,” he said with a rough voice. He grabbed a bottle of water on his table to take a sip. He hadn’t drunken something since coming to the office because he had been too busy. 

While Soonyoung was drinking from the bottle of water, Vernon came into his office looking strangely annoyed. The whole team was on edge because of the case, but the younger one always had kept his cool. He wasn’t one to get easily angry, so it was astonishing to Soonyoung to see him like that.

“Hyung, do you know that your boyfriend is driving us insane right now?”

Soonyoung sighed deeply and closed the bottle of water. He should have known that at one point, Jihoon would even drive Vernon up the wall. The omega hadn’t taken the killer’s last letter well. He was continually thinking about the content and what it could mean, especially the countdown. 

Soonyoung had trouble calming his partner down the last two days. Yesterday evening had been especially bad and the alpha had to resort to scenting Jihoon to calm him down a bit, but it seemed like the effect didn’t last long. He was probably constantly bickering with his team in his despair that they couldn’t solve the case.

“I should have known that something like that would happen.”

Vernon plopped into the chair in front of Soonyoung’s desk and grabbed the file that was lying open on the table. He read over the content fast and flipped it close again, seemingly disappointed not having found some interesting there. “We have to wrap up this case fast.”

“I know, Vernon. But what can we do when there is no lead at all?”

“You’re the profiler,” Vernon told him soberly. “What is your intuition telling you?” Soonyoung chuckled at the boldness of the younger officer because others in his position would never dare to tell their superior to finally start thinking. Soonyoung knew that Vernon meant no harm with comments like these, he was simply speaking what was on his mind.

“Hmm, it’s curious that the new victim was again a mated omega. It seems like a pattern.” Soonyoung went again in his head through all the facts they knew about the victims. “And he had a break up too.”

“So it’s different from the Min Jaeho case but somehow similar.” It wasn’t a question but a statement.

“Yes, I think that…” Soonyoung suddenly stopped mid-sentence because he got an idea of what they could do. “Don’t worry. I’ll do something about it.”

Vernon opened his mouth, probably to ask what Soonyoung was planning to do, but the older alpha beat him to it and asked a very different question.

“Is everything going fine with Seungkwan?”

Vernon cocked his head to the side in confusion. “That’s a very random question.”

“I was just curious. Sorry if I overstepped the line.” Soonyoung first of all didn’t want to explain the idea he got because it was purely based on intuition and not on facts, a combination he wasn’t fond of. So he changed the topic fast. Still, he really was curious how things were going between the two of them. They had talked a bit when all of them had met up in the restaurant a while ago, but talking in a group and in private was vastly different. 

“It’s totally fine. I just didn’t expect the question right now, but yeah, everything is great with Seungkwan.” Even though Vernon’s voice was steady, he looked slightly flustered. 

“So, how serious is it between the two of you?” Soonyoung asked the younger one with a knowing smile on the lips.

“We’re both young and we want to take it slow, but my heart tells me it is very serious.” Vernon made a short pause, and Soonyoung smelled at once the hesitation on his scent. “What about you and Jihoon-hyung? I don’t want to overstep the line now, but you almost behave like a mated couple.”

Soonyoung froze up for a second but relaxed fast again. “Does it look from the outside like this?”

“Yes, very much.” This time Vernon had the small knowing smile on his lips, and it made Soonyoung laugh out loud. He never thought about what others were thinking when they saw Jihoon and him together, but now that Vernon had voiced it out loud that they almost look like a mated couple, he couldn’t deny it. This relationship was bound to transition into mating, so it wasn’t all that surprising. 

Soonyoung decided to tell Jihoon later about it, he was curious how the omega’s reaction would be. It was still too early for a real talk about mating but he was itching to test the waters. “You’re not wrong. Jihoonie and I… well, I can’t imagine we’ll separate again. There is no other person for me.”

“That’s good hyung. I’m glad you are both finally happy. If we could just solve the case now, everything would be great.” Vernon grinned cheekily and Soonyoung could read perfectly well between the lines “Jihoon is a headache, so you better get a grip and solve the case soon”.

“I know, I know. Out with you. I’ll manage everything.”

Vernon waved once and left Soonyoung’s office. The profiler considered what to do next, but his thoughts got interrupted once more because his phone was vibrating on the table. He looked at the display and groaned loudly. It was his mother - again. Since the alpha had quit his job at the National Intelligence Service, she had called countless times, but Soonyoung had never picked up. She must be out of her mind by now, and suddenly Soonyoung got a bad coincidence. He breathed once slowly in and out and picked up the call.

“Hello, mother. How are you doing?” Soonyoung said, trying to sound neither unfriendly nor guilty. 

“You haven’t picked up my calls since weeks, how do you think I am doing?” The voice of Soonyoung’s mother was harsh, and the alpha’s face turned sour at once. He felt like hanging up.

“I was busy.”

“That’s nonsense, and you know it. Your father is still fuming. You have to talk to him sooner or later.”

It was indeed, nonsense. Soonyoung simply hadn’t felt like explaining why he had resigned at the National Intelligence Service. After all, no explanation would be good enough for his father. In his eyes, there was no eligible reason to resign at the National Intelligence Service.

“I know,” the alpha answered shortly. He had felt like saying “I know, but I’m trying to delay it as much as possible”, but he knew his mother wouldn’t appreciate such bluntness.

“I’m not going to criticize you for giving up your position at the National Intelligence Service. I don’t care where you work, but still, I would like to know why you did it. I’m worried sick, Soonyoung. When you got into the National Intelligence Service, I noticed that something wasn’t right with you. I’m no idiot. It wasn’t normal that you were suddenly going to all these dates I set up. Even more worrying were your completely dead eyes. I asked you a thousand times what had happened, but you never told me. I know you don’t like it that I’m trying to find a partner for you, but I just want you to be happy!”

Soonyoung felt like laughing out loud. He had almost forgotten that his mother’s first priority was to set him up. Yes, Soonyoung’s father being unbearable lately was probably part of the reason he called her, but foremost she was calling to change his relationship status. 

“I am happy,” Soonyoung told her sincerely.

“Suddenly? I do not believe that.”

Of course, she didn’t. He hadn’t been happy for many years and she didn’t know what had happened with Jihoon. It probably was time to tell her that she didn’t need to arrange blind dates for him anymore. She would need to search for a new hobby.

“I am really happy. With my work but with life in general too. I’m happier than I ever was.”

“I think you are only saying that to shut me up.”

Soonyoung took a deep breath before he started talking again. “I met someone…”

His mother screeched loudly at the other end of the line, and the alpha almost let his phone drop in shock. “What? Did I hear wrong? You finally met someone you like and didn’t tell me about it?” 

Of course, his mother would complain that he didn’t tell her before and he couldn’t even blame her for it. After all, it had been her life task for many years to find a partner for her son.

“I was busy with work and also with trying to figure out how a relationship works.”

Soonyoung’s mother was quiet for a while, processing the information she got. “So it’s something serious?”

“Yes, very serious,” the profiler said without hesitating. Soonyoung knew that telling his mother about the importance of his relationship would make her all the more curious, but didn’t want to lie about this topic. He would never downplay his love for Jihoon, he was too important to him.

“I’m itching to ask more about your special someone, but instead, you two should visit us sometimes. You are going to tell me then everything about your relationship, and you are going to tell your father why you quit at the National Intelligence Service.”

Soonyoung wasn’t sure if he should be happy that he didn’t have to explain his relationship in detail right now or terrified that he would have to do so while he was at his parent’s home, Jihoon probably by his side. In the end, worry won over relief.

“That won’t end nicely, and you know it,” the alpha gritted out, tightly grabbing the tabletop. He became unreasonably angry while imagining what they would have to go through soon. He didn’t care about what would happen to him, but he was worried that his parents would hurt Jihoon’s feelings.

“Still, you have to do it. I’m expecting you here as soon as possible.”

Soonyoung was already dreading the day he had to visit his parents home. He knew how things would turn out. His father would scream at him and probably say something awful about his boyfriend, whom he most certainly didn’t deem appropriate for his son. Then Soonyoung would get angry, probably scream too and leave the house with Jihoon. It already sounded like a very crappy day to him. There was no place for joy in the Kwon family - never had been.

“We are working on a difficult case right now, but we’ll visit when the case is closed.”

“Are you lying to me again?” Soonyoung’s mother sounded annoyed. It somehow made the alpha lose all will to fight. It seemed like there was no way out of this. He had to visit his parents soon.

“No, I’m not lying. We are really working on a difficult case, but afterward, we’ll visit you. I promise. I know I have to do this. Just don’t expect a nice family meeting. I can see my father screaming at me already.”

Soonyoung’s mother chuckled at the other end of the line. “I would like to say that it won’t be like that, but he’s still very disappointed that you quit your job at the National Intelligence Service and you know how he is.”

Soonyoung felt a headache forming, but he still had to work on the case. Working with a headache was a pain in the truest sense of the word, so it would be better to stop this call now. “I have work to do. I’ll call you when the case is over.”

“You better keep your promise. Take care, son.” Soonyoung noticed how his mother sounded very chipper now even though he had more or less cut the phone call from one second to the other. They usually finished their phone calls on a bad note, so this was a very unusual occurrence to Soonyoung. The prospect of meeting her son’s partner soon must have made her even happier than she had let on before.

“Take care too,” the alpha finally said quietly and hung up. He shoved his phone back into the pocket of his pants and ran a hand in annoyance through his hair. He needed some fresh air, so he decided to not worry too much about a plan for once but simply go out and figure things out on the way. 

The alpha grabbed his coat and left his office to walk to the open-plan office of his team. Jihoon and Wonwoo were loudly arguing about something and from the snippets the profiler could hear, the issue was most certainly the omega’s foul mood.

“Jihoon, we have to leave,” Soonyoung shouted, effectively shutting up the two arguing officers.

“Where to?” The smaller one asked curiously, all anger vanishing from his face in a matter of seconds.

“To the help group for omegas. I have a feeling that we need to go there.” Soonyoung saw Vernon smiling from the corner of his eye. The alpha wasn’t sure if the younger was happy about Soonyoung’s plan or about Jihoon finally not being annoying anymore.

“But the families of the victims said that they didn’t go and search for professional help.”

Jihoon was right. Nothing was pointing to the omega help group, but Min Jaeho’s case and this one were somehow related and Soonyoung’s intuition was telling him that they would find some sort of clue there.

“Trust my intuition. We have no lead, so going there is better than doing nothing.”

“Alright, let’s go then,” Jihoon said and grabbed his jacket in a hurry and rushed out of the office. It wasn’t difficult to see how eager the younger officer was to solve the case. After all, it was dangerous and personal. They had to wrap it up soon before something nasty would happen. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon and Soonyoung were sitting in the profiler’s car, driving to the office of the help group for omegas. Soonyoung had expected the Jihoon to talk non stop, but he had been unusually quiet while staring out of the window. 

Soonyoung shivered because it was cold inside the car. Autumn was slowly getting close to winter and warmer days were getting very rare. The leaves had turned a beautiful yellow and red, but the wind was strong, blowing them gradually off the trees. Soon they would be all gone and only sad looking, leafless trees would be left behind. Soonyoung wasn’t a big fan of winter. He preferred the warmer months of the year because he couldn’t cope with the biting cold. Even as a child he hadn’t liked playing in the snow. It was pretty to look at but when you touched it, the coldness would freeze the blood in your veins. Snow was like venom in a pretty package to Soonyoung.

The alpha turned the heating on and finally broke the silence in the car. “I’ve heard you were causing a scene earlier,” Soonyoung told his boyfriend, who turned his head around fast, glaring at the alpha.

“I did not! I…” Jihoon stopped talking and fell quiet for a moment. “This case is stressing me out. I have a terrible feeling about it. I’m not like you, it’s difficult for me to stay relaxed at all times.”

Soonyoung’s alpha instincts were flaring up hearing Jihoon’s words. He felt like taking his boyfriend into his arms, but he was driving at the moment so that wasn’t an option. “And I wouldn’t want to have you any other way. It’s your charming point.”

“Still you took me along so the others could have a quiet time.”

Soonyoung saw Jihoon still glaring at him half-heartedly out of the corner of his eye. “That’s only part of the reason, Jihoonie. You’re also very good at fieldwork, and I wanted to look at your pretty face for a while.”

“That's favoritism, Soon,” Jihoon told him in a very stern voice, but his eyes were sparkling happily. Soonyoung’s heart skipped a beat at the lovely sight.

“You better not tell then anyone.” Soonyoung grinned and made a u-turn with the car. He parked it near the building of the help group for omegas but not close enough to see the building. The alpha stopped the engine and opened the safety belt. Just when he wanted to open the door of the car, Jihoon grabbed his right arm. He turned to his boyfriend and gave him a questioning look.

“Kiss,” Jihoon murmured while looking a mixture of irritated and shy, but Soonyoung knew his boyfriend was anything but shy. The alpha leaned over and gently grabbed his chin with one hand to move his face into the perfect position. As soon as Soonyoung’s lips touched Jihoon’s, both of their pheromones were flaring out, filling the small space of the car with their scents. The alpha craved for more, but he knew they needed to hold back because they still had work. It would be very unprofessional to talk to the manager of the omega help group while smelling like arousal. That’s why Soonyoung pulled back only a few seconds later and to his surprise, Jihoon looked rather unhappy. 

“I’m so worried something will happen to the team. I’m worried something will happen to you,” the omega said quietly. Soonyoung could smell now all over Jihoon’s scent that he was scared. It was difficult for the profiler to bear seeing his partner like this. The alpha in him was struggling, telling him to take his omega far away to somewhere safe where he could smile again, but Soonyoung knew better than taking the easy way out. They would do their work, solve this case and most importantly no one would get hurt.

“I know, marshmallow. I promise you that nothing will happen, I’ll make sure of it,” the alpha said gently but Jihoon’s face remained miserable.

“As a police officer, you shouldn’t make promises you might not be able to keep.”

It was one of the most important rules but how could he not make promises to Jihoon if he looked with such sad eyes at him? As his team leader, partner, and alpha he would always do his utmost to keep Jihoon safe and happy. He could promise this Jihoon each and every day again.

“I’m making this promise as your boyfriend.”

Jihoon rubbed his forehead, a bit like he wanted to will a headache away. “The lines between work and private life are very blurred. Are you not bothered by it? You’re normally so very correct about work.”

They hadn’t really talked about the topic before. Soonyoung had assumed Jihoon was okay with it because he had been the one who told the alpha to return to the police station. Now Soonyoung felt stupid for not saying something about it before when it was obviously hard on his boyfriend at times. 

“I’m not bothered at all. It is the choice I’ve made when I told you that I would come back to the police station. I knew the lines between private life and work would blur and sometimes my behavior is not one hundred percent correct for a police officer, but as long as we are getting the work done and are not breaking any rules, I think it’s fine.”

Jihoon sighed quietly. “It’s difficult to stay rational at times when I think something could happen to you.”

“Jihoon, we are both police officers. We know that there is always the possibility that something could happen. Officers have died before just for giving a parking offender a ticket. I rather work together with you and try my best that both of us will stay safe than not seeing what you’re doing at all.”

“You’re right. I haven’t seen it like that before. Sorry for having been unprofessional. Again.” The omega smiled sheepishly and Soonyoung couldn’t hold back this time to lean forward and hug him in an awkward position in the car.

“We knew it wouldn’t be easy at the beginning. We’ll learn how to cope better over time,” he whispered into Jihoon’s ear before giving him a peck on the cheek and finally pulling back. The omega was looking at him with strangely wide eyes at him. “What?”

Jihoon shrugged and his whole composure and face relaxed. “I just thought that I love you so much,” he said without batting an eye.

“I love you too, sugar fairy. Now let’s get going.”

Soonyoung smiled widely when he got off the car, but the cold wind blowing right into his face froze the smile on his lips. He started shivering again and looked over at his boyfriend to see how he was doing. Jihoon seemed to be, unlike Soonyoung, not bothered by the cold weather at all. Still, the profiler felt like taking off his coat to wrap it around the omega so he would stay warm. He had to laugh about his rather stupid thoughts making Jihoon turn around. His boyfriend raised one eyebrow, but Soonyoung waved his hand in refusal to talk about it. Jihoon shrugged and started moving again.

“What are you trying to figure out here?” Jihoon asked the alpha while they were walking side by side down the sidewalk.

“I’m not sure, but I have the feeling that talking to the manager might lead to something,” Soonyoung answered truthfully, while they were arriving at the building of the help group for omegas. The situation felt very much like a déjà vu. He hadn’t expected to ever come here again. The memories of that time felt like a faraway dream, bitter-sweet like a cup of black coffee in the morning. Some moments of that time were very dear to him, but the things that went wrong were outweighing the happy times.

“Then let’s see what he has to say,” Soonyoung heard Jihoon say, but he barely registered the words. His mind had made a 180 and was now concentrating on what could happen inside the building. Usually, Soonyoung had a solid plan when doing an interrogation or questioning, but today was different. He couldn’t even give a logical explanation of why they were here because nothing was pointing to the victims getting help when they had been struggling with their breakup. But still, Soonyoung was standing in front of the very same entrance he and Jihoon had gotten months ago the information about Min Jaeho. He was hoping to get a vital hint here again and he was, sadly enough, quite desperate at this point. Soonyoung wasn’t sure if coming here would be of any real help. He only knew he had no plan or whatsoever while ringing the annoyingly loud doorbell.

The door opened rather fast and the same person as last time greeted them. The manager hadn’t changed at all, even his clothes looked similar to the day they met before.

“Officer Kwon, officer Lee, long time no see. I don’t want to sound rude, but what are you doing here? The case was solved months ago.” The manager's voice was dull and unenthused. No warmth was in his eyes - they obviously weren’t welcome here.

“Can we come inside and talk for a moment?” Soonyoung asked him unbothered. He was used to being not welcome as a police officer. Not everyone liked talking to the police.

“I’m busy, but I guess it can’t be helped.” The manager stepped aside and let Jihoon and Soonyoung into the house. They went inside and sat down at the same table as the last time. A few papers lay scattered on the table that looked like application forms.

Jihoon took two photos out of a folder he had been carrying with him and laid them in front of the manager.

“Do you know one of these men?” Jihoon asked stoically. 

The manager picked up the photos one after another, looking at them carefully. “No, I have never seen them before.”

“Are you sure?” Soonyoung was the one to ask this time while studying the manager’s face thoroughly. He couldn’t spot anything out of the ordinary. It really looked like the other didn’t know the two omegas who had been killed.

“Yes, I can remember faces very well.”

Soonyoung didn’t want to give up yet. He came here to have a breakthrough in the case and not to return with empty hands. There had to be some clue here. “Could it be that one of them came here, but you didn’t know of it? Maybe just for one or two sessions?”

“No, everyone who is taking part in a session has to register with me. There is no way I wouldn’t know.” The manager made a short break. It looked like he was deeply thinking about something. “What is this all about?” He finally asked curiously.

Soonyoung considered for a moment to tell the manager about the killings, but something bothered him about the way he had asked him just now. “If you don’t know these men, don’t concern yourself with it. We already took up a lot of your time. Please excuse us.”

They all stood up and walked to the door. While Soonyoung was still pondering on the manager’s behavior, Jihoon bowed to the older man. The alpha fell out of his stupor and bowed as well.

“Thank you for taking the time to talk to us,” Jihoon said and turned around to leave. Soonyoung still stood in front of the manager studying his face intently.

“I wish you all the best, officer Kwon, officer Lee.”

Something was strange. That last sentence had sounded more like a threat than actual well-meant words. The corner of the manager’s lips had curled up into a faint smirk, he maybe hadn’t even noticed himself. But even more, worrying than the faint smirk on his lips and the unfriendliness in his voice was the look in his eyes. He had seen eyes like these countless times.

Before Soonyoung could analyze his expression more, the manager closed the door. The profiler sighed and turned around to catch up with Jihoon. A specific memory flickered up in his memory when he had almost reached the younger one. He froze up completely noticing what the memory exactly meant.

“What’s wrong?” Jihoon stopped walking and turned around to look at Soonyoung in worry. The alpha opened his mouth to answer but then decided against talking here. It wasn’t the right place to tell Jihoon.

“Not here, let’s go to the car,” he told the omega, who was obviously puzzled by his odd behavior. Soonyoung started walking again, his step neither fast nor slow. He tried to sort out his messy thoughts on the short way to the car, but it was difficult to make sense of everything.

Back inside the car, Soonyoung sat unmoving in his seat still not talking to his boyfriend. Jihoon was drumming nervously with his fingers against the door for a while before he couldn’t take it anymore and interrupted Soonyoung’s thoughts.

“What’s wrong? I’m starting to worry.”

Soonyoung finally turned around to look at the omega who was looking borderline pissed off. “All the time I had the feeling that I overlooked something. I remembered now what I’ve overlooked.”

Jihoon cocked his head to the side in confusion but didn’t say anything. Soonyoung took a deep breath before telling his boyfriend what he had figured out. 

“Jihoonie, that guy is the killer.”

The omega’s mouth fell open in shock. “WHAT?” He asked loudly and let out a short laugh afterward. “How are you so sure suddenly?”

“When you were with Min Jaeho and he tried to kill you, I called the manager and asked for the addresses of the two group members who didn’t want protection from the police. He told me about the Skyhigh Apartment. That’s how I found you so fast.”

“So what?“ Jihoon said in bewilderment, obviously unable to follow Soonyoung’s thoughts.

“Do you remember when we met the manager for the first time? He was refusing to give out the addresses of the members who didn’t want the protection of the police - very strongly. But suddenly when I called, he gave them to me immediately. He didn’t even need to look for them. He knew the building's name and the number of the flat at once. He even told me the right building first. That is no coincidence.”

“Everything had been planned,” Jihoon whispered in shock.

Soonyoung nodded, content that the omega had finally caught on. “He’s the mastermind behind everything. I should have noticed at once that he was behaving suspicious on the phone, but I had been too worried for you to care about anything else.”

Jihoon got over the initial shock fast and started tapping with his fingers, this time in annoyance, against the door again. “So they were both lying and there is some sort of connection between them?”

Soonyoung still hadn’t thought everything through, so it was difficult for him to explain the two men’s connection at the moment. “Probably, we have to figure out what’s going on.”

“The victims must have been going to the help group, but he’s not telling us,” Jihoon added and it made perfect sense. They needed to confirm it somehow, but it would be difficult to do so when the manager was holding the information back.

“That’s my guess too. We have to look into it later.”

“What do we do first now?” Jihoon asked, but Soonyoung could see that the omega was close to falling into deep thoughts. He was probably trying to come up with a plan already.

“Let’s dig up more information on that guy for now. What do you remember from his background check?” Soonyoung’s memory was kind of fuzzy when he tried to remember the manager’s file, but he knew that Jihoon had gone over it more often than him.

Jihoon was frowning while trying to remember the information Soonyoung was asking for. “Seo Kyungmo, 32 years old. Omega. But taking into consideration that he’s a suspect now, isn’t it a bit strange that he’s an omega working in a helping facility for omegas but is taking suppressants?”

Soonyoung had wondered shortly about that before while working on the Min Jaeho case, but the manager didn’t seem suspicious at that time, so he had dismissed that thought. A lot of things were suddenly suspicious after noticing that the manager had busted Min Jaeho’s cover easily. Soonyoung had to carefully go through everything that had happened again - the Min Jaeho case and their last meeting with the manager. He might have overlooked even more.

“Suspicious indeed. We have to figure out what had happened in his life. Let’s hurry back to the police station.”

An omega, living as a beta while helping omegas in need but killing them at the same time - Soonyoung couldn’t comprehend how something like that could happen, but he knew they had the right man. He was one hundred percent sure because he had looked into his eyes. These were the eyes of a murderer.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jihoon and Soonyoung made a short stop at a convenience store and bought some things to eat for the whole team because they were sure that no one would have time to go out for a break today. It would be their highest priority now to figure out a connection between Min Jaeho and Seo Kyungmo or the motive of the killer. They needed something that would connect the dots and could make Seo Kyungmo an official suspect. Right now, the whole idea was purely based on a vague theory, but they needed solid facts. Seo would kill in four days again if they wouldn’t be able to arrest him. They needed to prevent that under all circumstances.

When the pair arrived in the open-plan office of their team, Soonyoung put the bags with food on a table while Jihoon went to the coffee machine to prepare a new pot for the team. The other three men had stopped their work at once, curious about what had happened.

“Did you get some information on the case?” Wonwoo asked no one in particular, but Jihoon was the first one to speak while making coffee.

“Soonyoung figured out who the killer is,” he said like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“And you tell us that so nonchalantly while making coffee?”

Jihoon and Soonyoung both laughed quietly before the alpha started telling the team his theory. Wonwoo, Seokmin, and Vernon were intently listening until Soonyoung had finished his story.

“I can understand how you got the idea, but where is the connection between Min Jaeho and Seo Kyungmo? They met when Min Jaeho installed the cameras at Seo’s office and then what? Isn’t it a bit too weak to make him the killer just because he gave you the address? When he has a good memory, he might be able to remember the address easily. Also, you might have just scared him into telling you with your angry alpha voice.” Wonwoo liked logical things and he didn’t trust his or other’s intuition easily. As a police officer, a good intuition was part of the job, but Wonwoo always was more on the rational side of things. Soonyoung appreciated it a lot because he was very similar in that aspect, simply acting on a gut feeling was not how he normally worked. Today had been an exception.

“On the way back to the police station, I thought a lot about what had happened while we were working on the Min Jaeho case and there were even more suspicious things. If you think long enough about it, the whole case makes a lot more sense when you add Seo Kyungmo into the picture. Seo had used Min Jaeho for killing people as long as possible, but as soon as things got dangerous, he exposed him. When he first told us about Min Jaeho, he gave us an unnecessarily large amount of information. He said something along the lines of ‘it’s a small firm and the boss personally came to check up on the cameras’. He even told us how the boss started his career as a normal worker. He made us overly suspicious about Min Jaeho at once. We decided immediately at that time, the boss of the surveillance company must be the killer.”

Wonwoo still didn’t look happy with Soonyoung’s explanation. “But isn’t it strange that Min Jaeho wasn’t bothered by the fact that Seo Kyungmo betrayed him?”

Soonyoung had tripped over that fact too while thinking about everything, but there was a very simple explanation for it.

“He must have agreed on everything.”

The whole team looked now confused at Soonyoung. He felt like rolling his eyes because everyone was so slow at catching on at the moment.

“But why would he do that?” Vernon asked this time. Soonyoung sighed deeply because the relationship between these two was very obvious to him, but then again, he was the profiler of the team and he should maybe cut the others some slack.

“Love?” Seokmin asked, unsure of his answer. Soonyoung couldn’t help chuckling loudly.

“No, a guy with Min Jaeho’s profile isn’t able to love in the classic sense of the word. Obsession might be more appropriate. They must have found in each other a certain usefulness, that’s why they had a beneficial relationship. It was all give and take. Though, Seo Kyungmo must have taken a lot more than given. He’s probably very cunning and coaxed Min Jaeho into doing what he wanted. Min Jaeho was always overly confident and that characteristic makes you an easy target for manipulation.”

Soonyoung was very sure that Seo Kyungmo had thoroughly manipulated Min Jaeho. The younger had probably agreed to the manager’s every wish, maybe not even noticing that the omega was the one making all decisions.

“What is Seo’s motivation? What happened to him?” Seokmin piped up again, but this time Soonyoung couldn’t give him an explanation.

“That’s our job to find out. Right now, I can’t make any sense of someone managing a help group for omegas and, at the same time killing them.”

The team nodded their heads but Soonyoung wasn’t sure if all of them were believing in his theory. Maybe no one wanted to argue anymore because it was the only lead they had in the case. A lead, based on a theory was still better than no lead at all.

“Soonyoung, do you know what’s worrying?” Jihoon asked him suddenly. The alpha had no answer because a lot of things were worrying at the moment, so he simply shook his head. “Seo told you the address to rescue me. It seems like a mistake because that phone call let us catch Min Jaeho and at the same time it let us know he is involved in the murders as well. But was that really a mistake? If this was all planned and he knew you would call and also anticipated that you would be in time to rescue me and afterward forget about the call because of all the stress…”

Soonyoung was understanding now what Jihoon was trying to tell him.

“Then it wasn’t a mistake. The killer is even more dangerous than we first thought.”

If Jihoon was right and he had planned and anticipated every little detail then Seo Kyungmo was highly intelligent and dangerous. They had known already that the killer was dangerous, but Seo seemed to be playing in another league than all the other killers Soonyoung had dealt with before. It was very worrying because he seemed to be capable of doing something very crazy. They needed to stop him as soon as possible because Soonyoung didn’t want to find out what he had exactly planned for them.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The team had spent the day doing a proper background check on Seo Kyungmo, but they didn’t come up with a lot of information. Just like Min Jaeho, Seo Kyungmo had no family and seemed to be a rather solidity loving person. He had moved many times in the last years, which made it difficult to find neighbors who knew him better. Soonyoung was sure there must have been some decisive turning point in his life that led him to establish a help group for omegas and then start killing them later, but they had no way to figure that out at the moment.

Everyone had gone home frustratedly after 8 PM, not knowing a lot more than they had at the time Jihoon and Soonyoung had returned to the police station. As workaholics, Jihoon and Soonyoung had taken a pile of papers home with them and were sitting now on the couch in their flat, going through the information about the case again, hoping to find something useful.

They had been working quietly for about an hour when Jihoon suddenly interrupted the silence in the room. “Do you think Seo Kyungmo knows that we are suspicious of him?”

“My feeling says yes. It’s upsetting we went there today. Otherwise, he wouldn’t know.” They had lost their chance of being in a better position, now Seo was one step ahead of them again. They never would be able to catch him like that.

“But if we wouldn’t have gone there, you wouldn’t have remembered the mistake he made,” Jihoon offered, but his words left a bad taste in Soonyoung’s mouth. The alpha clenched his teeth while anger flared up strongly inside of him. He didn’t bother holding it back. “It wasn’t a mistake, didn’t we clear that up already? Shit, I should have noticed at once his behavior had been strange, or at least I should have remembered later!” 

Jihoon looked surprised at the alpha’s sudden outbreak. He reached for Soonyoung’s hand and intertwined their fingers. “Soon, this might sound odd, but did you change somehow after my heat?”

“I don’t know? Did I?” Soonyoung breathed in and out deeply to calm down.

“You’re more intimidating…”

Soonyoung thought for a moment that he misheard what Jihoon had said. “What did you just say? Intimidating?” 

Jihoon squeezed his hand in reassurance. The omega’s pheromones were flaring out softly, dancing around Soonyoung almost like they wanted to tell him they meant no harm. “Intimidating is the wrong word, but you certainly seem more dominant than you used to be. While I could see before too that you’re an alpha, it’s much more obvious now. You reacted very strongly right now again. You weren’t like this before.”

Soonyoung relaxed a bit after hearing Jihoon’s explanation and leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes for a short while. Maybe he acted differently because he really liked being an alpha now. He had been indifferent about his gender for a long time, recognizing himself as alpha but never really caring about his needs. Now that he was together with Jihoon and they had sorted out all their differences, he knew that there was no need to hold back anymore. Jihoon was trying to provide for all his needs, and he was doing the same for the omega. It was the perfect symbiosis and he finally felt like he found the perfect balance within himself.

“It probably happened because I’m trying to be more like myself without holding back on anything. Is it a bad thing?”

“Not at all. It’s actually quite hot.” 

Soonyoung hadn’t expected that answer, which was very stupid of him because Jihoon had often told him he would like it if he was more possessive and aggressive. “So my new attitude turns you on?”

“Yes, so what?” Jihoon said annoyedly and tried to pull his hand back, but Soonyoung held on firmly, not letting go.

“Nothing. It’s just interesting information. You are always dropping these things out of nowhere.” Soonyoung thought about all the moments Jihoon had surprised him with such information. There had been quite a few.

“What other information did I tell you before out of nowhere?”

“That it turns you on when I call you honey or baby. Also that you would enjoy it if I punish you.”

This time Jihoon harshly pulled his hand back, his face flushing slightly red. “I didn’t say that!!” He barked loudly, but his attitude made a 180 just seconds later. “Okay, maybe I said something along the lines.” Jihoon lifted one eyebrow, a smirk forming on his lip. Soonyoung knew it was a provocation immediately.

“Did this turn into a talk about kinks?” He asked the omega, who only shrugged coolly. 

“Sure, why not. It’s long overdue to talk about it. We need a break from constantly working on the case either way. My brain feels completely worn out.”

Soonyoung had to agree. They needed a short break to be able to concentrate better again. Without taking breaks in between, it was impossible to change your perception and get new ideas.

“Okay, if you want to talk about it, then talk. It seems like you really want to tell me some things.”

Jihoon grinned at him smugly. It was obvious that the omega had another idea. “No, how about we start with your kink of liking it when I wear lace underwear? And you love it when I behave cutely. I can wear pretty underwear for you again. Maybe next time something even cuter? Baby blue and a bow around my neck? Maybe even some cute clips in my hair or even better some animal ears? Should I be your cute kitty?” Jihoon smiled innocently at Soonyoung, but the alpha knew it was all a game for his boyfriend. He wanted to rile him up.

Soonyoung growled lowly while balling his hands into fists. “One day, I‘ll lose complete control when you behave like this. You shouldn’t tease me.” Jihoon licked his lips before biting them, his gaze sensual. It started becoming difficult for Soonyoung to concentrate when his boyfriend was looking at him like that. “I‘m serious. Stop it. You don’t even like what you are suggesting!”

Jihoon huffed before falling back into character. “No, you‘re wrong. I might have never considered things like these before, but if it turns you on, it’s very, very high on the list of things I like. So should I be your little kitty or not?”

Soonyoung wanted to say yes - to everything. But he knew better than giving into this little game Jihoon was playing. Instead, he tried changing the direction this talk had taken.

“How much of a masochist are you for wanting me to be even rougher with you?”

“I‘m not exactly a masochist. I just enjoy seeing you lose control.” Soonyoung gave Jihoon a questioning look. “Okay, maybe I have a slightly masochistic streak,” Jihoon finally admitted and turned away from Soonyoung in annoyance.

“So how hard do you actually want me to go?” Soonyoung believed that the sex they had, had been pretty rough already, so it was worrying him a bit what Jihoon wanted from him exactly.

“As hard as you can,“ the omega answered at once.

Soonyoung cleared his throat loudly, not happy with the turn of events. “Jihoonie, if you are into really hard s&m stuff, I have to tell you that I can’t do that. I can be rough with you, probably very much so, but I can’t hurt you. Not even if you enjoy it. Harsh sex yes, hurting you no. It goes against my biology.”

“I’m not even that masochistic! It’s not like I want you to whip me or something! Just rough is good. Maybe a slap here and there.”

Soonyoung chuckled at Jihoon’s choice of words. ‘A slap here and there’ certainly meant that Jihoon wanted to get spanked. Soonyoung considered it for a moment and decided that it was possible as long as the pain he would inflict wasn’t too big. As long as things would stay playful, it should be fine.

“Okay, good. I guess a slap here and there might work.” 

Jihoon’s eyes lit up in excitement, a big smile creeping upon his lips. Soonyoung was sure that he had just opened Pandora’s box by agreeing on Jihoon’s perception of having rough sex. “Your face is making me uncomfortable. What are you thinking about?”

“You wouldn’t, by any chance, be willing to be slightly exhibitionistic?”

A low growl ripped out of Soonyoung’s throat that was impossible to hold back. The alpha dug his fingers deep into the soft fabric of the couch because the possessiveness was burning all too brightly inside of him. It didn’t happen often that possessiveness was eating him up like a wildfire but imagining another person than himself hearing Jihoon’s sweet voice when he moaned loudly for him or seeing his lustful face while taking his cock was too much to bear. The thought alone almost drove the alpha insane. “You already know the answer. Never. No matter what you want. Other people won’t see, hear or smell you while having sex with me.”

“Okay, okay, I knew that would be your answer. A pity, because I would enjoy it when other people would know how good you give it to me.”

Of course, Soonyoung noticed that his boyfriend wanted to appeal to his ego with that last sentence. He tried to make him give in to his wish and normally Soonyoung would give him everything he wanted, but exhibitionism was a hard limit for him.

Soonyoung heavily sighed when he saw the disappointment in the omega’s eyes. He thought about an alternative they could work with and when he looked at his smartphone that lay on the table he got an idea.

“So, you like the feeling of being watched?”

“Yeah…” Jihoon looked slightly uncomfortable while answering. He was probably not ashamed of his kink but just more careful after Soonyoung strongly refused it.

“How about we record with a camera having sex then? It’s another feeling of being watched, but it could work if we put them up so you’ll see them.”

Jihoon tried holding back his smile, but he failed miserably. “I think I would enjoy that.”

Soonyoung couldn’t help smiling too seeing the happy face of his boyfriend. He was glad he could come up with something that played a bit into Jihoon’s kink. After all, a relationship was often about finding compromises. “Is there more, Jihoonie?”

“I like it when you bite me.”

That comment surprised Soonyoung quite a bit because it was like stating the obvious to him. “Of course you do. It’s even in your biology.”

“Then how about biting me more??” Jihoon asked harshly, probably agitated that Soonyoung didn’t take his words seriously.

Soonyoung cocked his head to the side thinking about what his boyfriend had just told him. Now thinking about it, he had certainly felt the instinct to bite the omega often, but he had rarely acted on it. He didn’t even really know why. Maybe because biting was too harsh and animalistic in his mind, maybe he had expected that Jihoon would dislike the marks. It was very laughable now that he thought about it. Of course, Jihoon would enjoy it, he had been dumb to ignore his urges. 

“Yes, okay, noted.”

“I can’t think of anything else,” Jihoon told him while leaning back on the couch.

Soonyoung considered for a while if there was any kink he needed to share, but he couldn’t come up with anything. “Me neither.” 

Jihoon laughed loudly with wide eyes. “Are you joking? There is one really obvious kink you have. You like it when I talk dirty to you. When I tell you how good you give it to me.”

Soonyoung’s face turned sour at his boyfriend’s smug expression. He didn’t know how Jihoon came up with something like that because it was most certainly not the truth. 

“No, I don’t,” the alpha said stubbornly.

“Soon, it’s super obvious. Don’t even try to deny it.”

“You’re wrong.” This talk was suddenly starting to tick Soonyoung off and he didn’t even know why.

“Okay, if you want to be that stubborn then we can try it out.”

Soonyoung let out an annoyed laugh and wanted to get up from the couch, but Jihoon held him by the waist, carefully maneuvering himself onto the alphas lap. He pushed his boyfriend until he was leaning against the back of the couch and gave him a coy smile.

“Do you want me to take your enormous cock into my small mouth until I choke on it?” Soonyoung’s eyes opened wide at the realization of what was happening right now. It made Jihoon’s smile even more smug. “Or do you want me to go on all fours for you, holding my ass high up so you can fuck right into my wet hole? Do you know how much you stretch me with that big cock of yours? Even though we already had so much sex, it still hurts when the fat head of your cock penetrates me. But I can’t get enough of getting split open by your thick shaft. I wish everyone would know how good you satisfy me while fucking into me with your huge alpha penis. I love your cock so much. It’s my most favorite part of your body.” Jihoon reached out and gently cupped Soonyoung’s face. It was a harsh contradiction to his dirty words and it was riling the older one even more up. The omega’s sweet scent of peonies and raspberry pulled Soonyoung in, trying so hard to seduce him that he almost felt like suffocating.

“You better shut up this instance,” Soonyoung hissed, barely able to control himself.

“You're so aroused, Soon. I can clearly smell it. Come on say how much you like hearing me talk like this. You want to rip my clothes off and fuck me right now, don’t you? You want to fuck me so hard that I can’t talk anymore.“ 

There was no way Soonyoung could deny it. Who would not enjoy hearing such filthy things from his boyfriend? Maybe he really had a kink for dirty talk. He pushed another wave of arousal aside and tried to control his pheromones that were heavily filling the whole room; he could even taste it on his tongue. “We have work to do.”

Jihoon's face suddenly went blank. He climbed off of Soonyoung’s lap and took the glass of cola that stood half full on the table. “I know. This was only to make a statement.” The omega took a sip and grinned widely afterward at his boyfriend. “But I’m expecting mindblowing sex when the case is over. You better make me scream and cry.”

“That’s not even difficult, you already do when I only have my fingers in your ass,” Soonyoung told him, grinning now too, but Jihoon obviously didn’t think it was funny because his expression considerably darkened.

“Shut up, I hate you.”

Soonyoung wanted to laugh about how fast the tables had turned, but he didn’t dare to. “No, you love me and you love this push and pull game.”

“Whatever, let’s go back to work.”

No matter how many times Jihoon got grumpy like that, it was always endearing to Soonyoung. But as endearing as it was, he hated it when they finished a talk with Jihoon being annoyed at him. That’s why he couldn’t help shuffling closer to the omega and pull weakly at his sleeve.

“Tell me you love me before that.”

Jihoon looked again at Soonyoung and rolled his eyes at him. “I love you. Happy?”

Soonyoung pouted knowing fully well that it mostly worked on Jihoon when he looked dramatically sad at him. This time it was no different because the omega pushed a hand through his hair in annoyance before cradling onto Soonyoung’s lap once more to kiss him sweetly on the lips. “I love you so much that I can’t put it into words.” 

The alpha hummed happily and gave Jihoon another peck on the lips. “I think we can now go back to work.”

When Soonyoung looked at the file lying beside him, he strangely enough suddenly remembered the phone call he had with his mother earlier. He could delay telling Jihoon about it for a long time like he was used to doing when something was uncomfortable to him, or he could for once have the guts to talk about it immediately. Soonyoung went through all kinds of different scenarios in his head and finally decided that he should be sincere with his boyfriend at all times. Holding back information wasn’t really lying, but it also wasn’t sincere. 

“There is one more thing, Jihoonie.”

“What is it?” Jihoon had already gone back to reading a file but closed it as soon as Soonyoung started talking again. The alpha felt his heart drumming slightly harder in his chest when his boyfriend looked at him curiously. He really didn’t want to talk about this topic.

“Are you nervous all of a sudden?” Jihoon frowned at Soonyoung’s odd behavior and the alpha couldn’t blame him. It was strange that a lengthy talk about kinks hadn’t bothered him at all, but afterward, he suddenly got nervous. For a moment he even felt like running away but he knew that it was of no use so he decided to simply blurt things out.

“When the case is over, would you go to my parent’s home with me?” He said slightly faster than he had intended to, but from the surprised look on Jihoon’s face, he could guess that the other had understood his words very well.

“That’s a big step,” Jihoon said in awe.

“I know, but our relationship is serious and I already told my mother about it.”

“Wow, I didn’t know.”

Soonyoung could see the enthusiasm in Jihoon’s eyes and he felt at once apologetic that he had to crush the omega’s excitement. After all, this meeting wouldn’t be nice and cozy. Normally, meeting the parents was another step forward in a relationship. It was making everything more official, but unfortunately, the meeting with Soonyoung’s parents had different reasons as well.

“The problem is that this meeting won’t go nicely. My father is still angry that I quit the National Intelligence Service and…” Soonyoung didn’t want to say it. Just in his head the thought already sounded horrible, so how could he tell that Jihoon? Lucky for him, his boyfriend caught on fast.

“They won’t approve of me.”

Soonyoung wasn’t sure how Jihoon figured it out. Maybe it was obvious because he had seen which kind of people his mother tried to set him up with - someone well brought up but devoted and with a job fit for an omega.

“I’m afraid of that, yes. At least at the beginning. My father is very conservative and won’t like that you are working as a police officer. Still, I need to do this. I’m sorry. If you feel uncomfortable, then you don’t have to go with me.”

“No! I’m going. I won’t let you go through this alone. I’ll always be by your side.”

Deep inside, Soonyoung had hoped that Jihoon would say something like that. Of course, he hadn’t expected his boyfriend to downright refuse to go with him, but he could have been a lot more hurt about the situation or he could have asked for time to think about - but he didn’t and Soonyoung was glad.

“Thank you,“ the alpha whispered while Jihoon laid his head against his shoulder.

“You don’t have to thank me. We’re in a relationship so it’s natural to have each other’s back. I’ll always be there for you when you need me.”

Jihoon made him so soft when he was saying things like that and it became a more and more regular occurrence. He wanted to worship the omega, treasure him, spoil him rotten. He simply wanted to be together with him all the time, all his life.

“You’re distracting,” Soonyoung told his boyfriend who sat up straight again to look at the taller one. 

“What?”

This time Soonyoung reached out and cupped Jihoon’s cheek. He actually wanted to hug him, but he might never want to let go then again. “I feel the need to cuddle with you, but we have no time.”

Jihoon grabbed Soonyoung’s hand that was still caressing his face and pulled it close to his lips to press small kisses against the fingertips. “Then let’s wrap up the case fast and then we can cuddle as much as you want.”

“Hmm, didn’t you say you wanted to have hot sex when the case is over?” The profiler asked amusedly. Jihoon simply shrugged and gave him a playful smile. 

“Why do I have to decide on one thing, if I can have both?” Jihoon let go of Soonyoung’s hand and turned back to his work.

“You’re so demanding, marshmallow.”

“I’m just in love,” Jihoon said without looking up again but he gave Soonyoung’s thigh a short squeeze.

Soonyoung smiled brightly and picked up the file lying beside him again. When he looked at the papers, it was difficult for him to concentrate at once onto work. His mind was still hung up on the sweet words of his boyfriend. The pretty scent of Jihoon’s pheromones had wrapped around him lovingly like a thick blanket on a cold winter day which made a peaceful calmness wash over Soonyoung. Suddenly he had the feeling that everything was going to be alright. They would arrest the murderer before he could kill another person and they would get through the meeting with his parents. They would leave behind all these troubles and could concentrate then again on each other, maybe even take the next step in their relationship - whatever that even meant. Soonyoung only knew that he wanted to be together with Jihoon for a very long time.

A lifetime might not be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) I’m finally back with another chapter. I think I have never updated this late before. I’m feeling very apologetic about it but writing Code Red is on many levels exhausting to me at this point and I’m busy with other stories too and busy with life in general haha. Still, I hope you could enjoy the new chapter. I didn’t think it would turn out that long and it actually took me forever to finish it. Writing about the case is always extremely difficult because things need to make sense somehow. Were you surprised I dropped the bomb that early and easily? :D I like doing things this way more than the killer springing out in the very last scene. But then again what do we even know at this point? It’s still just a theory hihi.
> 
> Some things in this chapter were planned vastly differently. When I looked at my timeline, I saw a smut scene and wondered why it was there because I don’t want to write smut every freaking chapter, so I changed it :D Will add it in at a later point. It was either way very unfitting for this chapter.
> 
> What more, what more? Don’t know. I feel kind of blank after working on this for so many hours and days. I simply hope it was enjoyable to read. All in all, I think it wasn’t a bad chapter. Sorry for the mistakes, I know my English is not perfect because I’m not a native speaker but I’m always trying my best.
> 
> Hmm, next update… I can’t even tell you when the next update will be. It will probably take some time because I’m writing three stories at the same time and things are kinda confusing. Next week I’ll update Queen Sacrifice and after that, we’ll see ;D
> 
> Thank you like always for reading, leaving kudos, and bookmarking my story - for leaving the nicest comments and supporting me when I feel down. Really thank you so much. ILY <3
> 
> Take care and see you soon <3


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